Dawn Zutara
by Bookwormchick7
Summary: Zuko is hunting the GAang again but for a different reason. He wants his scar healed and Katara is his only hope. Can he convince her to help him? Especially after Katara's betrayal in Ba Sing Se.
1. Memories

Zutara ~ Dawn

Chapter 1- Memories

Zuko lay on a plush couch in an apartment in the earth kingdom palace. Over the past three days Uncle had been captured, the Avatar had been shot full of lightning, he had been reinstated as a fire prince, and he had met a waterbender who could have healed his scar. His scar. The very thing that marked him an outcast, the thing that showed his father's type of love. He could have been free of it if that blasted airbender hadn't blasted through the wall right then. The waterbender, Katara, she had the bluest eyes he had ever seen and she had touched his scar ,without shuddering or even flinching, not even he could do that. And there was something about her eyes when he had said that he had lost his mother too, a softness of understanding but not pity, the want to lift that pain off his shoulders even though she herself had to much herself. But most of all she could heal his scar.

Zuko walked over to a mirror on the wall. He stared at his face. Lifting one hand he covered the disfigured half of his face, looking only at the princely side. He then switched, looking at the banished side. What if that all disappeared? Would Azula treat him like an equal? Not likely. What would Uncle say? What about his father? Would he grant what Zuko craved most? His honor.

* * *

Katara floated in the small river that the gang had stopped for the night at. The full moon hung in the sky as if it were floating too. "Hi Yue." she whispered, "Sokka misses you, you know... we all do but mostly him. I know that nights when your fully out he has a hard time sleeping. Once he told me that when he was looking at the moon he saw a beautiful lady in it. It gave him hope." Katara fell silent. Hope. What gave her hope now? Aang was grievously injured, their plan had failed, and Zuko... Zuko had betrayed her! Her eyes hardened. He had seemed so human in the caves, and yet he just turned and followed Azula! He had taken her trust and tore it into tiny pieces.

Katara dove beneath the surface begging the cold water to clear her mind. She didn't want to think about Zuko. He had been a mistake. She turned and rocketed up to the surface drips of water flying off her and hearing herself gasp a lung full of air. The gasp seemed to loud somehow in the silence around her. She quickly bended a sphere of ice around her, making a small room. She touched the smooth walls, they had a slight pearly shimmer that made them beautiful. She was calm in this place, safe. It rested her mind from unwanted thoughts, but she had only recently gotten the idea to make herself this sort of igloo. Katara continued to practice her waterbending. She knelt in the bottom of the sphere holding her arms up, each slightly curved to either side middle fingers just barely touching. She breathed in slowly and opened her arms slowly and gently. The sphere opened with her arms and when she had lowered her arms to the surface of ice, she shot out her fingers quickly to form curved blades of ice raised from where she sat to the end of the still slightly curved ice. She was kneeling in the middle of a giant, ice water lily. Katara was tiered and cold but she couldn't destroy the thing of beauty she had created just yet. She sent a small current of water around to spin the lily so she could look up and see the heavens turn around her. Twinkling stars shown down at the waterbender below them.

Slowly Katara melted the flower till there was only a small patch of ice below her feet. She stepped forward and ice branched out from the patch, making a path across to the shore. Katara bended the water out of her clothes when she had reached land and pulled on her pants and dress. She stumbled wearily to her bed and fell asleep.


	2. Travel

Dawn ~ Zutara

Chapter 2 -Travel

Katara awoke to Sokka shaking her. "Come on sis' get up. I'm starving and your the only one who can cook." Sokka was shaking her from his own sleeping bag, his groggy eyes squinting at her. "Sokka why can't you feed yourself for once?" Katara was fed up with his sexist behavior. But when she turned and looked at him ,he was already asleep again. "Stupid Sokka and his stupid stomach...grumblegrumble... you don't see him asking Toph do you!.... no, no! Its Katara's job!... grumble..." Katara got up out of her sleeping bag scarcely four hours after her late night in the stream. She prepared a small meal of rice and jerky for Sokka, Toph, and herself, and rice and fruit for Aang. After the rice was cooking and she had some time Katara went down to the river to wash her face. She splashed the freezing cold water on her skin and gasped at the shock. She took another hand full and brought her hands to her face. She opened her hands bending the water around her face. Eventually she let the water drop back into the river. Katara sat staring into the water as droplets dripped off her nose . She blinked and saw Zuko's face in the reflection for a moment. Giving a slight cry the waterbender staggered back and spun around. No one was there. She was alone with the trees. Breathing heavily she sat down against a tree. She had had a long night last night and didn't have enough rest that's all it was . I had to be.

A cry rose from the camp, "Katara!!!!" She ran toward the sight and when she saw what had happened she nearly cussed aloud. The rice had bubbled over, Sokka had no idea how to fix it, Toph was still asleep and Aang was trying to blow the fire out with air bending and succeeded by blowing a huge gust of wind over the fire right across from Katara, which in turn blew all the soot, ash, smoke, and hot embers all over Katara. "AAAAAAAAA"she screamed as the embers landed on her like small ferocious wasps. She quickly shook them off but was all ready feeling welts rise on her skin. "You...you...IMBECILES... I leave you alone for TEN MINUTES and you can't even tend the food you so DESPERATELY wanted!!!! I am sick and tired of being forced to act like a mother to all of you!!! GROW UP!!!" Katara was crying ,the tears making lines down her soot blackened face, as she turned around and ran ,the burns on her feet making each step painful. She bent water into a bridge over the stream and let it fall the moment she was across. Blindly she ran through the trees just trying to get away from all the pain in her heart. She soon reached a clearing far from their camp and collapsed by the roots of a large oak on the fare side. She sat there and wept. She wept for her mother, she wept for Jet who was gone before she could apologize, she wept for Yue who gave her life on earth, and she wept for herself because she had no one in the world to hold her and brush her tears away.

* * *

Zuko looked out the window of the earth kingdom palace. He had been shifting places every hour or so to keep Azula from finding him. It was good this palace was so large. You could simply walk from room to room and never look like you were avoiding someone. He didn't want to talk to Azula. She was to crafty and cunning for this hour of the morning. He was not a morning person but sadly Azula was.

Zuko let his mind wander thinking about all those years he had spent in exile. Those long cold years searching. His thoughts shifted slightly to the waterbender girl Katara and her friends. Where would they be? It was only the beginning of the fourth day after escape so they probably hadn't moved yet. Perhaps they were hiding in the forests around Ba Sing Se. Aang was dead. Right? He had to be. Azula shot through the back, a mortal wound, it was impossible for him not to be dead.

_I have spirit water from the spirit oasis in the North Pole. It has special properties. _

Her voice echoed through his mind. What if Katara had used that water on Aang? Would the avatar be alive? Would she be able to heal his scar? Would she even consider it after he had betrayed her? Was it worth a try? Zuko needed answers and the only way to get them would be to go on his old quest, but with a new objective. He needed to track the avatar to find Katara.

He quickly went to his room and started to pack. He planned on traveling light ,just enough to carry, he swiftly went to the kitchens and ordered a bag with bread, cheese, jerky, and fruit be packed. "Going somewhere Zuzu?" a snake-like voice said from the doorway. Azula was casually leaning against the door frame. "Azula." Zuko stiffened slightly and turned, "I need to get out of the palace, it's to stuffy in here."

"I never would have guessed that Zuzu would miss out on the royal treatment, a bed, fresh food, servants..." Azula looked toward her brother. "It must be Uncle getting to you."

"Yes," agreed Zuko, "It must be uncle."

"Well go on your little camping trip then just be back in about a week. That's when the ship to the fire nation arrives, and you wouldn't want to miss your little reunion with Daddy." Azula turned and walked away.


	3. Burns

Dawn ~ Zutara

Chapter 3 – Meeting

"Katara!" Sokka yelled starting to go after her.

Toph stomped her foot and three earth walls barred Sokka's way. "Oh no you don't. You've done enough damage for today Sokka."

"But she's my sister I need to protect her!" He wined

"If making her work for you like a slave is 'protecting' her, I'm sure she doesn't want to see you any time soon." Sokka didn't say anything he just sat on his sleeping bag and put his head in his hands.

* * *

Zuko looked at his map spotting the closest river outside the city. He headed off. That's where they would camp. The waterbender would make them stay with in reach of her element. The chase was on.

* * *

Katara awoke with the sun high over head. She had fallen asleep through her tears out of pure exhaustion. She felt her clothing sticking to her with sweat and moved to bend her clothes dry. "aaAAaa" she let out a gasp. The waterbender had forgotten all about the burns all over her body. The pain was immense and instant as soon as she moved. The burns were from her hair line to her toes blotchy and unevenly spaced across her front. The biggest coal had landed on her left cheek giving her the semblance of being slapped. Even in a weakened state Aang could lash out strong peals of wind. She was still covered in soot and grime although around her eyes where she had been crying was clean. Katara couldn't move very much. The worst hit parts of her body were her legs and arms. For her arms she had tried to shield her face and most pieces had hit her arms instead of her face. Her legs though were a different story. The coals had made small burning circles of fabric were ever they hit and some had fallen through the fabric and grazed down her thighs and rested against her ankles. She needed to get to water but there was none around and she was far from the river. Katara tried to crawl back to the river but was soon crying in agony as her burns split and bled. She had only made it to the middle of the clearing before the pain made her blackout.

* * *

Zuko was nearing the stream when the sun was about over head, maybe 11:30am. He saw a clearing on his map and headed there for a quick lunch. The firebender was coming out into the open when he saw something in the middle of the field. He slowly approached at first in case it was an animal but when he got closer her could tell it was her. The waterbender. Katara. And she was hurt. He rushed forward some gut instinct knew that he needed to help her and he ran with it. She was his chance at being without the scar. She was his chance at the avatar if he was alive.

Zuko saw blood on her clothes and some kind of red marks on her cheek and arms and ,from the state of the holes in her pants, he guessed the same marks were on her legs. When he knelt at her side he could tell they were burns. How did she get them? He thought. Zuko started to pick her up bridal style when she gave out a pitiful moan. Afraid she would wake up Zuko froze. Nothing happened. Straitening, Zuko realized he had no idea where to take her. He couldn't go to the stream her friends were most assuredly there. Zuko was forced to put Katara down again earning another tortured scream, and look at his map. There was a cave with a spring near its entrance that would be perfect and it wasn't too far away. Zuko carefully picked Katara up and set out for the cave.

When they finally reached the cave Zuko put Katara down on the cool floor. Her back seemed not to be as injured as the rest of her. He unloaded his pack and found the thin sleeping mat he had packed. He rolled it out and placed Katara on it. He had no idea what to do. Should he let her rest? Should he try to bandage her wounds? He figured he'd let her sleep then in the morning she could heal herself.

"aAAAaaa... bur...it....burns.." Zuko immediately rushed over to Katara but she was still asleep, head lolled to the side. She's dreaming- he thought but about what?


	4. Meeting

Dawn

Chap. 4 Meeting

Katara opened her eyes slowly. She didn't move ,she remembered her burns. She panicked silently, she could hear a fire crackling behind her and she felt a mat under her sore body, but there were no voices, Sokka, Toph, Aang they weren't here, and she knew she couldn't have made it here by herself. She had barely been able to crawl before she blacked out. Some one had taken her here. There was a stone ceiling above her head and the fire reflected light on the curving walls, she was in a cave. Katara slowly turned her head to the side there was no pain yet, her right cheek rested on the cool ground. She slowly tried to lift her arm and a burn on her wrist that trailed up to her elbow shot pain up her arm. Great. No bending. No one was in the cave except her, but the fire proved they had only left for a moment. Katara tried to move her legs but the severe burns around her ankles kept her from trying to get up. She heard footsteps and went limp trying to look like she was still unconscious. Through slightly opened lids she spied a sight that made her blood run cold then boil over. Zuko! He had captured her and brought her here! After everything that had happened he still hunted them down like animals! But why? He thought that Aang was dead right? Why would he continue to follow them?

He looked over at her with an odd expression. What was he looking at? Why had he not tied her up? Maybe he knew her burns were to painful.. Zuko slowly walked over to her and looked down at her. She imagined springing up and cutting his face over and over for what he had done. She imagined freezing him to the wall and slapping him over and over again. As much as she disliked violence, Zuko had it coming.

In one swift movement Katara had thrust her fist in the air ignoring the pain screaming through her arm and punched Zuko full in the face her blue eyes now fully open and blazing. When her fist met Zuko's face a burn split and started to bleed. "aAAAaa" Katara fought to stay conscious as her arm fell screaming in pain. Zuko had been thrown back by the blow but this was mostly because he was crouching. "Oww!" He said half in surprise half in pain, rubbing his cheek. "Water...bring...water...ple..." Katara gave up the fight and fell into blackness.

* * *

Zuko looked over the girl and thought he saw the smallest of smiles appear on her face, that's when her fist connected with his face throwing him off balance, "Oww!" he said in shock. He could have sworn she was asleep. "aAAaa!" He heard Katara yell in pain and then, "Water...bring...water...ple.." and silence. She had blacked out. Zuko stood, the punch was weak but still stung a little. He had imagined their meeting a hundred times in a hundred different ways but none quite like this. Zuko sat up and yelled flame coming out of his mouth. His temper thus controlled he looked over at Katara. He had most probably deserved that but to actually have it happen. Well, not something he wanted to dwell on. But what had the waterbender said after, water bring water, she could heal herself. Zuko thought about this. Bring water= healed Katara= happy Katara= no scar! Or maybe bring water= healed Katara= moving Katara= bloodthirsty Katara= terribly wounded Zuko! Oh no. But what if don't bring water= angry Katara=becoming enemy= scared for ever.

Zuko put his head in his hands. What would he do? He needed to earn Katara's favor and he guessed the only way to do that was to bring water. Zuko got up to leave for the spring when he noticed something on his hand. Blood. Bright red and glistening. But his cheek didn't hurt the sting was fading even now. Going over to Katara he saw a trail of blood leading to her right hand. A burn on her knuckles was split. Zuko knew then that he had to get water. Katara's burns were way to serious if they were split and bleeding already. He hurried away grabbing a bowl from his pack.


	5. Healing

Dawn

Chapter 5 – Healing

Zuko came back with a bucket of water. He knelt next to Katara and gently shook her shoulder. He then quickly pinned down her arms. "Katara you need to wake up." Zuko looked down at her waiting. Nothing happened. "Katara..." he said a little louder. He dared letting go of one wrist to drip cold water on her mouth. Then quickly assumed his last position. The first movement she made was to lick her lips. "Katara," after he said her name her eyes shot open glaring at him, "Don't move your hurt and I have no idea how to help you heal yourself." while saying this Zuko looked away from her staring at the wall, "I only held you down to keep you from punching me again and hurting yourself again."

"You can let go now." Katara's voice was cold as ice. "I won't punch you. Mostly because if I tried I would probably black out again. You can help me by dripping water over my arms first." Zuko inwardly flinched at the barely suppressed anger in her voice. "You have to promise me something first," Zuko looked right at Katara and she stared at him anger boiling in her eyes.

"What...do..you...want...?"

"promise you won't attack when your healed."

"HA!" to his surprise she laughed at him but there was no joy in it, "Oh this is too much. You don't think I'm gonna fall for that again." she spat, venom in her voice. Zuko was taken aback, "What?" he asked.

"Don't play dumb, you want something, you always want something, you think you can just twist my emotions don't you? You think that I'm just a water peasant a TOOL!" She was breathing heavily now with barely controlled emotion and still her voice was like frozen steel, "Well PRINCE, I hope you enjoy pain." she left the implications of that phrase hang in the air.

"Katara...." Zuko was shocked at Katara's words and body language, "I want to talk to you."

"Like you talked in the cave?" her voice dripped sarcasm, " I can't believe I thought you had a heart."

"KATARA!" Zuko couldn't help it he yelled, "I don't care if you listen to what I'm going to say just give me time to say it!"

"Fine. Pour the water over my face first." Katara's voice was still ice cold and steely.

"How did you get burned anyway?" Zuko was genuinely curious.

"You don't need to know that."

He slowly poured the water over Katara's cheek were the red burn still flared. Blue light emanated from the water and it fell from her unblemished cheek. "wow." Zuko breathed. Katara gave no reaction to his words. He trickled water over her left arm first the blue light came again and the same for the right. By that time the bowl was empty if water. "Zuko, stand up." Katara didn't look at him. "Why?"

"Just do it!" He did as he was told. Katara gripped his arm and braced her right arm on the wall. Pushing up with her arms she stood on her still wounded legs. "aAa" she gasped. "Let me help you!" Zuko said. "I'm fine on my own." she replied, "Where did you get the water? Lead me there." She let go of Zuko and shuffled along the wall. Zuko had no choice but to lead her to the spring.

She lowered herself into the water and let out a breath, the water glowed and she finally stepped out of the spring and waterbended the water out of her clothing. She sat down on the ground and looked at Zuko. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"I'm going to listen so speak."

"Okay, You're right I do want something, and this might not be the time or place to be asking but," Zuko sat to be at her level, "Katara of the Southern Water Tribe would you heal my scar?"

"Th-that's what this is about?" Katara's shock knocked the anger right out of her. "Zuko I-I..."

"Katara," he looked at her, "will you sleep on it and come back tomorrow?" He knew this was a shock and he wanted to give her time to think.

"Come back?" she asked.

"I'm not going to keep you here. I can't force you to anyway and I want you to have a choice." Zuko knew this was a gamble but he had to do it. "Your brother and the blind girl will most likely be looking for you. When you have decided, come to this place at dawn. Is that all right?"

"Zuko..." Katara looked at him with an odd emotion in her eye, "are you okay? You don't have a fever do you? Azula hypnotized you that's it!"

"I'm serious Katara this is all I want. I will let you go."

"I will come."

"At dawn?"

"At dawn."


	6. Decision

Dawn

Chap.6 - Decision

He was letting her go? But this wasn't like him! He would -never- let them go. "Zuko are you feeling alright? Do you have a fever? Azula hypnotized you, that's what it is." This wasn't making any sense. Had Zuko actually changed! Was she right in the caves? Or maybe he hadn't changed, maybe he just wanted to look the part of a fire prince and offered a truce just for this favor. He thought the avatar was dead anyway. He had no other reason to bother them.

"I'm serious Katara that is all I want. I will let you go."

Katara made a decision, "I will come."

"At dawn?" He asked.

"At dawn." she answered not at all sure of herself.

"Good," Zuko replied, "to get to your campsite walk until you reach the clearing then head through the middle and turn toward the sun then keep on walking, you'll walk right in on them." Zuko had always been good with maps. "Do you think you can find the spring again?"

She nodded swirling her fingers around in a circle ,water floated out of the spring and wrapped around her fingers and wrist like a lacy glove. "Yes, I can find my way back." she had always waterbended when she was in deep thought, it's cool reassurance against her skin calmed her. She was still staring at him ,a slight squint in her eyes, like her vision was blurry. She could tell it unsettled him. For some reason she was no longer angry, just intensely curious and mistrustful.

She stood and walked a little ways away. Then stopped, "Dawn." she simply said, then turned and walked into the trees.

* * *

Zuko stared after the beautiful waterbender and wondered what would happen at dawn. Beautiful? Why had he thought that? He mulled it over in his head, was she beautiful? Yes, although he didn't care. Why should he?

* * *

Katara drifted into camp to the excitement of Sokka and Aang.

"Where were you?!?!!" Sokka shouted, "We looked everywhere!"

"Are you okay?! Did I burn you?" Aang said with guilt thick in his voice. Although Sokka was right in front of her Katara seemed to look through him. "Why aren't you answering me?!?" Sokka was yelling into her face but Katara didn't even flinch. She just walked around him never focusing on anything, "I'm fine guys. Aang did burn me but I healed myself. Everything is okay. Don't worry." she said in a soft voice. Her lack of emotion did worse that startle the boys, it scared them. "Katara your not acting normal, what's going on?" She didn't answer. "Katara?" No response. "Katara!" Nothing. "KATARA!!" By that time they had reached the edge of the river. Katara stepped in she continued to step forward as if the water wasn't there. Sokka was about to dive in and pull her out when she turned around. "Do not try to follow me." she said, "I need to think. Surly you can take care of your selves for at least a little while." The reminder of what had started this was evident but there was no anger in her voice. Sokka froze and Katara walked one more step and the river covered her head. "Katara!!" Sokka yelled but did nothing but sit on the hard ground beside the rushing water. Aang stood ,open mouthed, watching the spot where Katara had disappeared. Toph walked up to them. Immediately Sokka started to lay into her, "Why didn't you help us stop her!?! Don't you care that she's been gone for a day then just comes back probably sick or something?!?"

"Yes I care numbskull, and I could feel her heart beat before she went into the river and it was slow very slow ,for Katara. Usually her heart beats fast because she's always busy, only when she's sleeping or very calm does it slow down, and sometimes not even then. With her heart at this delicate pace a quick speed up from anger or excitement could make her very sick. That's why I didn't stop her." Sokka looked at Toph for a second and buried his head in his hands.

* * *

Katara sat in an igloo under water. Breathing hard she looked at her hands. What had happened? Was that Zuko? What was she supposed to do? His scar. He wanted help with his scar. Katara swiftly moved her hands in rapid succession. A stream of water sprung from the walls to her hands and formed a bust of Zuko's face ,an ice sculpture the size of Katara's hands. She moved a thumb in front of his left eye wiping the scar away. She gasped at the effect he looked... somehow... more terrible. Then she realized it. He looked like his father. The sculptor melted in her hands. She scrambled to one side of the igloo. This wasn't right. This wasn't safe. And she couldn't heal him anyway the spirit water was gone. Katara grabbed at her neck where the flask still hung. She tore it off and flung it at the opposite wall. But what would she tell Zuko. "I can't heal your scar because I used the spirit water on the avatar who is still alive by the way." that would work wonders. She couldn't flat out refuse. Just say 'no I won't heal the scar that has plagued you for most of your life' she might as well show up in shackles.

"Yue... what do I do?" A tear leaked out of her eye.

Suddenly a light shone from the top of her igloo. The light was soft and was slowly gaining definition and features. "Hello Katara." she said softly.

"Y...Yue! But that's impo..."

"Impossible. You see for a goddess it is possible to bend the rules a bit."Yue smiled down at Katara. "You must listen I don't have much time. You must help Zuko."

"Why!?!"

"Do not question me ,please, it only wastes time. Suffice to say your destinies are intertwined. I can bless the water but there are steps you must take for the water to take affect on the scar. " Yue motioned to the flask and it rose from the ground floating over to the goddess. It filled with sparkling water and capped itself. The necklace placed itself over Katara's head.

"Katara you must do three things: first you must tell the truth always to him. Second you must see him at least once every day once you tell him that you intend to heal him. The third and most important rule is this," Yue took a breath, "you must trust him with your life."


	7. Steps

Dawn

Chap. 7- Steps

"With my LIFE!!!!" Katara was in shock. She had tried trusting him it hadn't worked.

"Yes," said Yue, "I know you have given him a chance, but Azula twisted his thoughts and he was so torn that the influence was to much. Zuko's life has been hard and twisted from his father's actions and his sister's reliance on the pain of others. Since his mother's disappearance his life has been void of beauty and light. If you give him the chance he can change."

"But..." Katara wondered to what lengths she would go to help Zuko. Then again the moon spirit practically commanded she help him.

"Katara," Yue said in a soft voice, "I love the little talks we have at the full moon. Know that I will always listen. But my time grows short here, please tell Sokka...that I miss him, so...much. And that I lov... " Slowly the moon spirit faded away and the light left the igloo.

Katara emerged from the water as the moon was setting. "Katara!" Sokka yelled jumping up from where he was waiting. "what happened?" Katara looked at Sokka and hugged him, "What was that for?" he asked.

"Yue appeared to me last night."

"Yue!!!???!!!"

"Yes, she told me to tell you that she missed you, a lot, and that she loved you."

"Yue." Sokka turned his head away to hide the small tears in his eyes.

"Come on, lets get back to camp, I have something to tell everyone." Katara lead him back to camp hoping her announcement wouldn't hurt him further.

When everyone was awake she said, "I need to go on a journey. You know how Aang had to go away to control the avatar state , I need to do something similar. For my bending." she added as an after thought, "I will be gone maybe a week ,maybe longer, I'm not sure yet. No one must follow me, I have to do this alone."

Aang was the first to speak, "No Katara you can't go!"

"I have to Aang."

"But..."

"Please Aang, I need to do this."

Sokka was to despondent to even argue. He figured it had to do with Yue appearing to her.

"Ice princess," Toph said, "I know sometimes you have to do things, and I know you'll be alright."

"Thank you Toph." Katara replied. She walked over to their things and started packing. She took only things that belonged to her like her sleeping bag and water bag. She also took a small pack of food. She knew it wasn't enough but she couldn't take anymore. Once she was packed she hugged each of them in turn. Then stated, "Do not follow me." turned, and walked into the trees carrying her pack. It was just before dawn.

Katara stepped out into the small clearing around the spring. No one was there yet. She set down her pack behind some bushes and sat next to the water. She dipped one finger into the water and slowly pulled it out. When the drips were falling she sharply spread her fingers wide holding the water suspended in mid-air. She scooped her fingers under the droplets and moved her fingers together. The droplets formed one blob of water above her finger tips. Using her other hand, she formed a small rose out of the water. She held it for a moment just looking at it. Absorbed in the concentration she use to hold the delicate shape. Katara held it up to see it better.

* * *

Zuko hid behind a thick group of trees. She had actually come! He was surprised, even though she had said she would come. What was she doing? Bending? Bending what? Was she getting ready to attack? No the water in her hands was to small an amount to do much of anything. So what was so fascinating? As if reading his mind she shifted, holding it up to get a better angle. It was... a flower? Why would she waste her time making a flower? At that moment she simply let the water go. It splashed into the spring with a small -sploosh-. Had she sensed him? No she was just sitting. Waiting. For him.

Zuko decided that it was time to 'arrive'. He moved back a few feet and then walked forward, making it seem he was just coming from the cave. When he stepped into sight Katara looked up quickly with a unfamiliar emotion in her eyes. Was it fear? Not quite. Anger? No. Nervousness? Yes, that was closer. But why?

* * *

Katara let the rose fall back into the clear water. No amount of waterbending was going to be enough to relieve the anxiety in her heart. She heard a rustling of undergrowth and turned her head to see Zuko emerging from the forest. It was just after dawn. He approached and sat down a foot from her. They sat in silence for a few moments, looking at each other.

"Well," Zuko said, "can you do it?" Katara's thoughts sped through what had happened the night before but only one thought stood out from the rest. The image of Zuko without his scar. That terrible face filled her mind's eye.

"...yes..." she breathed almost inaudibly.

"You can! You will!" Zuko's eyes widened and the disbelief was clear in his voice. He wanted to...he didn't know... shout or dance or hug someone (seeing as no one else was around that someone would have been Katara) but the prince just sat, waiting.

"Zuko..." Katara's voice was hushed, "the spirit of the moon came to me last night." Zuko was confused. What did this have to do with his scar?

"She told me that for the water to take affect, three terms must be met." Zuko didn't panic quite yet, he knew he could handle tests.

"One, I must tell you the truth always after promising to heal you." Zuko faltered these weren't tests for him, they were for Katara.

"Two, I must see you at least once every day until you are healed." Zuko kept listening.

"And the last and most important," Katara's voice was barely over a whisper, "I must trust you with my life." Katara was looking at her hands in her lap, they were shaking slightly. She didn't know how the prince was reacting to the steps put before him. She was slightly scared to look.

* * *

Zuko was stunned. He had no control over the situation. He was in Katara's hands. He inwardly winced, remembering how he had betrayed the owner of those hands.

"I will help you." the sentence from the waterbender's mouth was like a ray of light in the dark.

"I will help you."


	8. Strangers

Dawn

Chapter 8- Strangers

"Why" the question came out of Zuko simply because he really wanted to know.

"Well," Katara said, "the moon told me to and I guess you deserve another chance." Katara looked him in the eye and the anxiety was gone instead there was a glimmer of hope and a bit of curiosity.

"So...how do we start?" Zuko could feel a bit of heat in his cheeks, this was just plain awkward.

"Ummm, well, I guess I have to officially promise to help you. So,um, Zuko I now promise to help you." Katara was blushing too, this was awkward for both of them at least.

"uh, okay then." Zuko said, "So now you have to tell me the truth, see me every day, and trust me?"

"yup."

"okay then."

There was an awkward silence between them.

"How are your brother and the earthbender going to react?"

"They think I'm on a journey to improve my bending and clear my emotions."

"That's good then."

"Yea I have about a week or two until they'll get suspicious so we'll have plenty of time I guess."

"Not so much, I only have a week or so."

"Then we have to get started!" Katara's voice got a little higher, "I brought a pack along with me so I wouldn't have to rely on you. We should really get back to the cave." She went to the bushes and retrieved her pack. They moved back to the cave.

Once Katara was moved in they simply sat, one on either side of the fire in the fire pit. She was going crazy with all the quiet so she started talking, "Well usually I'm not making friends with once-was enemies so I really don't know how to do this. So I figure if we start telling things about ourselves we at least won't be such perfect strangers." Zuko looked at her with grateful eyes, clearly he didn't want to start. "All right I'll start, um, I'm fourteen years old and was born in the southern water tribe, my father's name is Hakoda, he is the tribe leader, uh, I was raised by my Gran-Gran." she finished lamely.

Katara looked at Zuko who was looking at her with interest.

"I'm sixteen years old and was born in the fire nation, you already knew that, uh, you know my father," Zuko looked away, "after I was banished my uncle Iroh took care of me while I looked for the avatar."

"Do you... do you mind if I ask how you got your scar?" Katara's voice was so gentle, Zuko looked up to see her looking at him with soft eyes.

"If I tell you, you have to tell me the story behind that necklace." Katara instinctively reached for it. This was a question that had plagued Zuko many times.

"Alright, but you first."

"Fine." Zuko started his tale, "I was twelve at the time. I wanted to go into a war meeting and my uncle let me, on the condition I didn't say a word. While in there a general suggested a plan to defeat an army of earthbenders, the plan involved sacrificing a regiment of new soldiers as a distraction. I spoke out against it when it was not my place. This was seen as a crime of disrespect and my father grew angry. He said I would have to battle the offended party in an Agni kai. I thought I would battle the old general, I was wrong. By speaking in my father's war room I had insulted him, and was doomed to face him, my own father. I only realized this when I turned around on the dueling ground and saw him there. I fell to my knees begging for mercy, I couldn't fight my father. He showed no mercy. He then banished me, saying I was dishonored by my cowardice in battle, giving me the quest of finding the avatar." Zuko looked down the anger plainly showing on his face. Katara was crying but she didn't care. She crawled over to Zuko and hugged him. She didn't know what made her do it, just that she needed to help him, to comfort him. Zuko went rigged in her arms, surprise knocking the anger out of him for a minute, he squirmed slightly and she let go. Blushing, she backed away a little, wiping her tears from her face.

"I guess it's my turn now." Zuko just nodded still a little stunned at her action of kindness.

Katara sat cross legged staring into the fire.

"It started when I was four years old. Sokka and I were playing in the snow when suddenly black flakes started to come down with the white. The men of our village ran around getting ready for battle. I ran to find my mother. Sokka ran to help the men. When I found my mother in our igloo she hid me under piles of furs and told me to stay hidden. She had just turned back to the door when three men in fire nation armor broke through the door. One yelled, "who's the waterbender?" and my mother in a calm voice said, "If I tell you, will you leave the village?" the man replied yes and she said, "I am, take me." Then the man stared at her with... pleasure... in his eyes and said, " Sorry, we're not taking prisoners today." and plunged a knife in her stomach. My mother..." Katara had to pause, "my...beautiful...mother fell from in front of him, her blood staining the snow around her, and the man laughed. I will, never, forget that laugh. He left ,then, along with the other two and I rushed to my mother. She was breathing gaspy breaths and her eyes wouldn't focus. She turned her head in my direction and reached up to untie her necklace. She placed it in my hand and whispered, "Katara, never forget who you are." I stayed by her side, unable to comprehend what had happened. All I knew was that my mother was dying, and that a man laughed as he killed her." Katara finished her story tears running in thick streams down her face unheeded. She simply sat, looking into the fire ,shivering violently.

Zuko stared at the girl in front of him. He himself was seven when his mother disappeared, but he knew she was not dead. Katara on the other hand, had seen her mother brutally slain in front of her four year old eyes. He reached out to Katara and grasped her hand. She looked up at him with such devastation in her beautiful blue eyes that he just had to pull her closer and let her cry on his shoulder. He knew it wasn't right but he saw all the fear and sadness she had lived through, and yet she still wanted to comfort him, someone who had terrified her for the past months.

Katara was stunned what was happening? Zuko could fry her right here and now but instead he was... hugging her? This was so unexpected but she supposed this was how he had felt like only moments before. She relaxed slightly, he couldn't hurt her. She was helping him. He wouldn't risk it. And besides he had invited the contact.

Her heart still hurt from remembering. Sokka could never feel the same way, he hadn't seen it happen. He hadn't heard the laugh. At last the flow of tears thinned and dried up and Katara backed out of the embrace, blushing madly.

"Well that was..." Zuko started.

"Surprising." "Interesting."

they both spoke at the same time. They looked at each other and shared a shadow of a smile. "Um, are you hungry?" Katara asked.

"Yea, I guess." He answered and ,just for the sake of breaking the awkward silence, Katara stood and started to get some rice cooking. Zuko went to his bag and got a bit of jerky they could share.

When the meal was cooked and doled out, Katara and Zuko sat, eating in silence. Surprisingly enough, Zuko started a conversation, "So... how did you learn your waterbending?"

Katara swallowed a bit of food and answered, "Well, I was the only waterbender in the southern water tribe so ,at first, I taught myself. Then when we went to the north pole I was taught there, and there was that water scroll..." Katara drifted off looking quizzically at Zuko out of one eye. She saw him look down, suddenly interested in his rice, "oh yea... that. Um, sorry, I guess."

Katara chuckled a little, "you know, you're very different when you're not trying to kill us." She looked at him with her head cocked to one side.

"Is that a good thing?" Zuko asked.

"Yea, I think it is."

"What's one thing you miss from your tribe?" Zuko introduced another topic.

"I miss being surrounded by my element, I guess. And my grandmother of course."

"Is that it?"

"I guess so, the rest of the tribe was always like a family but they were... not the same. And my father left to fight when I was still very young, I miss him a lot."

"You didn't leave anyone special behind?"

"HA!" Katara had to laugh out loud, "You mean like a -boyfriend-?! No." her voice got the tiniest bit wistful, "all the boys old enough went with the men when they left for the war, Sokka had to stay because he was a year to young. The entire village is mostly women and children. How about you? Do you have anyone?"

"There is Mai... but were more like childhood friends...although she thinks we're.... more." Zuko was blushing furiously as Katara tried not to giggle. This wasn't the same Zuko she had fought at the north pole. This was the crystal caverns Zuko. "You mean Mai the sad girl who plays with knives?"

"Yea her."

"Oh goodness."

"Yea that about sums it up." Zuko was surprised at how kind this girl was. Even after all he had done, she could still open her heart in exchange for a little openness from himself. How does one become so able to forgive? He wished he knew. Still he could not let his anger at his father go. Maybe, maybe once he was healed, maybe.


	9. Strength

Dawn

Chap. 9- Strength

"I'm going to train." Zuko broke the silence knowing he needed to get out of the cave.

There was the Zuko Katara knew. The one who trained constantly and had no feeling in his body.

"Okay." Katara answered. She knew she didn't have to but she felt like it. Zuko walked I out into the sunlit clearing. He stood in an open position with his arms to either side. He brought his arms together palms together, as if he was praying. He took a deep breath in, out, in, out. Zuko put his arms to his sides, then in quick violent movements he punched his fists out in rapid succession sending fire balls out from his fists. Quickly he took a cross-step forward and did a tail kick ,spreading flame from his foot, flipping his body over. He swung his foot in front of him ,continuing the kick through to the other side, the flame creating a half circle. He flipped again stepping down bending his knees and getting low to the ground pushing off from the ground with his hands kicking his legs in the air fire spurting from the soles of his feet he twisted around creating a spiral of flame leaping into the air. He did a sort of push up off the ground, bending his elbows and pushing off his hands, doing a half flip in the air to land on his feet. He stood so still with his feet together right fist in his left palm. Only the sheen of sweat shining off his body showed the exertion he had gone through. That and the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Zuko flinched visibly when he heard clapping behind him.

"That was... incredible!" Katara walked over applauding. She had her mouth open in a half smile. Zuko was surprised and pleased, no one had ever enjoyed watching his firebending but his uncle, and Zuko was sure his uncle was acting out of encouragement, not real interest.

"Let me show you something." Katara said in an excited whisper. She grabbed his arm and pulled Zuko toward the spring. Zuko was ,again, surprised. He had not thought that Katara wanted to match him.

He watched as she bent water out of the pond and swung her arms around above her head and back down to her center. The water flattened out into a large pane of ice about five feet in each direction. Katara pushed her palms down making the ice connect to the ground making a flat surface under her feet. She then pulled more water from the spring making it form a large blob in front of her. She beckoned Zuko to the edge of the ice ring ,sliding over herself. The blob of water followed. When they were an arms length apart, Katara moved the blob next to Zuko and started bending it ,looking at Zuko every now and then, as if comparing them. Zuko was confused for a moment but when he tried to turn to see the water beside him Katara yelled "Don't move!" so he stayed still. Katara's brow was furrowed in concentration, this was easier during the full moon. "Okay now you can look." she said in a slightly weary voice. Her hands were holding the water in place. When Zuko turned he gasped. It was a replica of himself ,well not really himself the figure had no face, but the build was right on. "Now watch this." Katara said.

She stepped backwards on the slick surface and positioned the figure in front of her. She touched the forehead of the water, took a step back and put her arms out. The figure mimicked her, raising its arms. She stood side ways and the figure mirrored her. She put on had out and the other behind her back. Again the water mirrored her. They stood like she and Aang had when Aang had his fire nation dance party, right before they danced. She took one step forward. The figure did the same. She did a series of steps and the figure did them at the exact same time. Katara did a jump and a clap and a twist to switch places. She set her arms in a holding position around the figure. Zuko was stunned. Katara had such control over her element that she could dance with it! She did a quick turn and a flip, jump, spin, duck, weave. Katara skimmed backwards over the ice dance floor and the figure seemed to chase her. It caught up and grabbed her waist when she put her hands in front of her. They moved backwards , the water mirroring Katara's every move, totally in sync. Katara spun at a dizzying speed around and around, the figure too spun and they finished by stopping and meeting, fingertips touching.

Katara was breathing hard. The exertion of holding the figure and controlling its movements was pushing down on her like a ton of bricks. She bent the water back into a blob and into the spring. Then she let the dance floor melt into the ground too. She fell to her knees, panting. "Katara!" Zuko shouted kneeling beside her, "Are you alright?"

"I'm...'pant'..fine." she said between breaths. "How … huff... did you....puff....like it?"

"It was..."

"astounding, amazing, incredible."

"Yea those."

"Good, I'm glad."

Zuko was still getting used to not trying to kill/capture her for the avatar so Katara figured she would supply the adjectives. But really ,the look on his face was enough.

--his life has been void of beauty and light--

She had wanted to fill that void some. She hoped she had. But suddenly the sun felt extremely warm on her back and the grass felt extra soft beneath her knees and hands, and she really was tiered after all the bending she had done. She let a small groan of exhaustion escape her lips and she fell to the side, right onto Zuko. But she didn't see the startled expression on his face nor did she see the small smile on his lips, she was already asleep.

Zuko saw her start to sway and fall over but caught her before she touched the ground. For the second time in less that two days the waterbender was in his arms. He was startled at how cold her body was though. Yes she had been bending cold water, but she had just done a dance. She was sweating but there was no warmth in her skin. This wasn't natural, there was something wrong and she wasn't telling him. He had to try to get her warm. Zuko picked her up bridal style and carried her to the cave. He lay her inside her sleeping bag as his arms let go of her body she shivered violently and grabbed his hand in her sleep. She was breathing heavily, gasping for air.

-in Katara's dream-

Katara was falling. No she was drifting. No she didn't know what was happening. The moon spirit's words echoed around her, -your destinies are intertwined-, she saw a light above her and she reached for it, only to realize she was under water, but she couldn't bend, she couldn't breath! Her lungs where burning when suddenly a warm hand pulled her out. Her vision cleared and she looked up. "Zuko?" He was the one who had saved her. "Zuko? No...NO!" He turned toward her but his scar was gone and his grip tightened on her wrist and his right hand pulled back hand in a flame encased fist. A twisted smile appeared on his face. "Hello girly, let's make you match my son!" He snarled. This wasn't Zuko, this was Ozai! Katara couldn't scream her throat was stuck she couldn't even think. His fist was coming toward her face when suddenly she was grabbed by the waist and pulled along. She looked at her rescuer and screamed, it was Zhou! She struggled to get loose but his grip was like iron. "this is one way to get the avatar and that sorry excuse for a prince at the same time." He looked down at her with hate in his eyes. "Of course that just means you have to be alive, not necessarily well." He grabbed her by the hair and started to drag her away. At that moment Zhou fell, letting go of Katara. Azula stood in his sted, fingers smoking from the lightning they had just released " Oh don't worry," She said, "I'll make sure you see Zuzu again, I'm sure you'll be happy in the after life." She started the motions to start making lightning. Katara couldn't move, her body wouldn't respond. The bolt of lightning headed strait for her. "ZUKO!" was all she could scream.

Zuko was sitting next to Katara. She was dreaming, he could tell, but he couldn't tell what she was dreaming about. She kept rolling around in her sleep. He wasn't holding her hand anymore. She had dropped it. "AAAAAAA!!!!" she screamed in her sleep and Zuko jumped. He didn't know what to do should he wake her? Why was he so useless? He leaned over her again, she was breathing hard, panicking.

"Zuko? Zuko? no...NO!!" Katara yelled in her sleep. Zuko wanted desperately to know what she was dreaming of, and in what context she was dreaming of him. He was about to shake her awake when she screamed, "ZUKO!!" and woke up, eyes flashing with fear. Those blue eyes focused on his face, right above hers. Her chest was heaving up and down.

"Katara, it's me, I'm here." he said in hushed tones, "It's going to be all right."

"Please," Katara's voice was weak and desperate, "please tell me it was a dream. Please."

"It was ,Katara. It was. Your fine. Your safe. What did you dream about?" He put an arm around her to help her sit up. She was still freezing cold.

"Your...your father." She whispered looking him in the eye. Her own eyes filled with fear and tears. One tear fell from her eye. Shock rippled through Zuko's system. His father. Ozai.

Zuko pulled Katara into himself ,letting his emotions take over. "I am so sorry." he whispered. "so very sorry." She simply buried her face into his shoulder, crying hard. Zuko's emotions were boiling over. His father. Could he never escape thoughts of him?! He was like a disease infecting everyone who knew him. And now Katara was being haunted.

"I'm sorry." Katara withdrew kneeling and putting her head down. "I...I don't know what to say. "

"Tell me about your dream." Zuko reached over and lifted her chin, "I want to help you."

"Okay." she took a deep breath, "I was drowning ,I couldn't bend, I couldn't breath. Then a hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the surface. When I looked up I first thought it was you, but when the man turned he tightened his grip on my wrist and he didn't have your....your scar. He pulled back his fist ,it was aflame. Then he spoke, he said "Hello girly, lets make you match my son!" He was about to punch me when someone grabbed me around the waist and pulled me away. When I turned to see who it was I found Zhou! He sneered down at me and said, "this is one way to get the avatar and that sorry excuse of a prince at the same time. Of course that means you have to be alive, but not necessarily well." He grabbed me by the hair and was dragging me away when he fell down dead in front of me. In his place was Azula. She looked at me and said, "Oh don't worry, I'll make sure you see Zuzu again, I'm sure you'll be happy in the after life." I couldn't move, she was about to shoot me with lightning but all I could do was scream your name, and then I woke up." Katara looked away, embarrassed about what the people in her dream had said. She looked up to see Zuko fists clenched breathing hard. Why was he acting this way? Had she said something wrong? "Zuko?" She shuffled over to him and touched him on the shoulder. He looked up with sorrow and anger in his eyes. "Zuko it was just a dream." His shoulders sagged and he let his hands relax. "I'm sorry. I just... I don't... Nothing ever... My father." he couldn't seem to find the right words. "it's okay. You don't have to say anything." Katara took his hands.

Zuko's mind jerked from the emotions boiling in his mind when Katara took his hands. Her skin was freezing. "Come on the sun is setting let's go watch it. We can talk some more and it's nice out tonight."

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him up, half dragging him to the mouth of the cave. They sat against the side of the rock wall in companionable silence, letting the last rays of sunlight wash over them. Katara saw the spring a few yards away from them and bent a small amount of water into her hand. She concentrated on the water as she bent it, holding it suspended in the air with her left hand and shaping it with her right. She was unaware of Zuko watching her. Katara first shaped it into a butterfly with iridescent gossamer wings, moving her left hand slightly and making the wings move as if it was actually flying. Next she fashioned it into a hibiscus flower, making it open before her very eyes. Then she sculpted a rose. She took a lot of time on it, making the petals perfect and elongating the stem. She made gentle leaves flowing out of the stem. When she saw it as done, she closed her eyes and breathed on it, freezing the water in the shape. Katara opened her hand and the rose fell into it. She held it gently by the stem fingers slightly curling around it.

"May I see it?" Zuko's voice startled her so much she jumped and nearly dropped the rose.

"Oh my gods you scared me!" Katara said turning around. Suddenly they were face to face, Zuko had been watching over her shoulder. A tense moment passed between them, neither of them had realized how physically close they had become.

"Um, yes you can see it." Katara blushed slightly, holding the flower out to Zuko. She had never shown anyone the beautiful things she could create out of her element. No one had ever really cared. Zuko took the rose in his bigger hands and inspected it. "This is really... beautiful." Katara smiled to herself.  
"How did you learn to do this?"

"Oh, um, well I kind of taught myself."

Zuko handed the rose back to Katara.

"Will you show me?"

Katara was startled. "You really want to learn?"

"Yes. I do. All I've ever known was that our bending was for fighting, you've shown me it can create things too."

"Alright, first start with a fist-sized flame, I guess. Then imagine what you want to create. I would start simple, something like a tree or maybe a bird of some sort. Do you have an image?"

"hmm... I think so."

"All right now simply use your other hand to try to form the shape you want. You have to keep your thoughts on that shape though. If you get distracted the element looses shape."

Zuko was working hard. His brow was furrowed and his jaw was set. He looked at the fire in his palm and slowly moved his fingers around it, scooping some away pulling some here and there. He spread the bottom of the flame out and bring the sides out and down. He curved the flame up and down. When he finally finished he held the figure out for Katara's critique.

"It's an eagle." She said

"Close, its a phoenix." he said with a small smile.

"Oh, I see! Isn't there a legend about the phoenix?"

"Yes. It was an old legend about how the first firebenders got their inner fire."

"Could you tell me it?"

"If you wanted to hear it."

"Oh I do. I've always loved legends and tales."

"Alright," Zuko started, "It started long ago, before man had split the world into pieces..."


	10. Struggle

Dawn

Chap. 10 Struggle

"Long before bending was common, a son of the sun spirit and a daughter of the moon came into the physical world from the spirit world. They met at a garden between dawn and sunrise and immediately fell in love.

When the sun and moon found out they sent a plague on the earth, the sun did not leave the earth and the moon would not show her self in the dark, giving half the world seven days of cold blackness and the other half seven days of blinding light and heat. The son of the sun didn't care about the plight of the people of earth, he only wanted the happiness of the daughter of the moon. But on the night of the seventh day the daughter of the moon's compassionate heart over flowed with sadness for the people. She begged the son of the sun to go back to his father and she would go back to her mother. The son of the sun refused saying he loved her to much to leave her. The daughter of the moon pleaded with her love to look to the people of the earth to see the destruction they had caused the people.

The daughter of the moon said that she would love no other but him if he gave her something that would show his love to be true. Seeing his lover's tears he promised he would go back the next morning, but that he had to spend one more night with her in the garden. When the morning came, the son of the sun created a phoenix of flame that would burn until his loved for her cooled. They parted each confident that the phoenix would never die.

When the daughter of the moon returned her mother lifted the plague from the earth and so did the sun. But, afraid of her mother's displeasure, the daughter of the moon hid the phoenix. She checked everyday for the phoenix's feathers to burn brightly, and each day they did. But having to hide the wondrous beauty of the phoenix made the daughter of the moon sad. So she watched the people of the earth and found that during the night, even with her mother's light, the humans were cold. So the daughter of the moon came up with a plan. She found a tribe of earth dwellers who were especially like the son of the sun, and came to them. She gave them each a feather of the phoenix and placed it in their souls. She explained that they must go to the great dragons and have them train them in fire bending, for they now had inner fire. The earth dwellers did this and were never cold during the night again because they now had fire. Those were the first fire benders. And now when the daughter of the moon looks over the earth she can see that the son of the sun still loves her because our inner fire has never gone out."

Zuko finished as the sun disappeared under the horizon.

"That's so beautiful." Katara whispered in a wistful voice, "and it's so sad too. I wish..." she trailed off.

"You wish what?" Zuko asked curiously.

"Nothing. It's stupid and girlish. You would just laugh at me."

"No I wouldn't. And you're allowed to be girlish, your a girl. Come on tell me."

"No."

"Fine then I'll make you tell me."

"How?"

"I'll trap you here." and while saying so he grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the rock behind them. His hands were so strong he only used one.

"Zuko! Let go!"

"Not until you tell me."

"Never!" Katara was trying hard not to laugh, but even so small giggles began to escape. This was so much like what Sokka had done when they were young.

"Tell me!"

"No."

"Tell me!!"

"No!"

"I wonder if your ticklish?"

"What!?! Don't you dare! Zuko...!!!" Katara's warning was cut off by a bout of giggles as Zuko started trailing his fingers over her stomach.

"Oh no!'giggle' Please!'chuckle' Zuko! 'gasp' Stop!" Zuko laughed aloud. Katara was acting the the sister he should've had.

"Not until you tell me!!"

"Fine! Just stop!" Katara gasped breathes filling her lungs. Zuko ,still chuckling a little, let go of her arms and sat back ,watching her.

"Well...?"

"Um, well, with that story and everything I was wishing, well, let me explain it this way. Ever since my mother died and my father went off to war, I've been forced to become a mother. I babysat in the village, did laundry for gran gran and Sokka, cooked, cleaned, that sort of stuff. Then when I found Aang, I kinda had to become his support ,too. I do work around camp, I clean clothes, cook, everything over again. And then I had to smooth things out between people when they fought, I had to manage everyone's emotions, and it's just... a lot to do. I'm only fourteen! And lately I've been wanting someone who would let me cry on their shoulder, who would make me laugh, who I could be me, Katara, around, not some kind of mother. Someone who would love to hear me sing, and watch me waterbend my little figures, someone who I would sit back and watch sunsets and stars with. Someone to pour my heart out to and not worry about being judged, someone I would never want to run away from ,ever. And hearing that story... I guess the words I'm looking for are someone to love. But it's stupid. I'm being selfish, and conceited. I'm just a fool. Just a stupid little girl." She turned away feeling her necklace, "I grew up without a mother to teach me how to be a girl. I was thrown into the role of a woman before I had the chance to be a girl. But here I go again, you don't want to hear this. You don't want to see some little girl snivel about her problems. I'm sorry. Only fools wish about what won't happen. I'm just a fool."

Zuko reached out and touched her shoulder turning her around. He saw a single tear run down her cheek.

"Katara," he said, "You are not a fool." He wanted to say something more, comfort her, but he couldn't find the words. He could see a young Katara working, without parents to guide her. He could see her giving those around her a shoulder to cry on. She was a pillar in her group, but she was slowly crumbling. Breaking down, failing under the stress. He could see that she couldn't go on like this. Keeping her inner turmoil inside herself. He cringed inwardly when he remembered that he had added to this turmoil, with his treachery.

"Did you ever let them see you cry?"

"Huh?" Katara was surprised, "Who?"

"Your friends, did you ever let them see you cry?"

"Once, only once. And when I looked up they looked so lost...I never wanted to cry in front of them again. It scared them, so I simply don't let them see that part of me anymore."

Zuko looked at the waterbender with wonder in his eyes. She gave up a lot for her friends, more than they expected, more than they knew about.

"I'm sorry you never got to grow up the way you were supposed to. I guess that's one more thing we have in common." he shot her a thin smile, "Once a wise man told me that destiny is a funny thing, I don't think your wish is silly or girlish." Katara blushed a little.

"I'm going to get some sleep, okay?" she asked softly.

"Fine by me, in fact that sounds like a good idea, we've both had a... trying day."

They walked together into the cave and got into their respective sleeping places, Katara into her sleeping bag, Zuko on his mat. Zuko called out to Katara on the other side of the fire a few feet away, "How do you stand that fur-lined sleeping bag? It must be so hot."

"Are you kidding?! It's freezing! I don't see how you can bear that mat without a blanket even!"

"It's a warm night Katara."

"No it's freezing." She replied snappishly, sitting up and scooting closer to the dieing fire.

"How did you survive the south pole if you think this summer night is cold?"

"I don't know. I've just been feeling cold and so tired lately, so very...tired,... and my heart beat, I can feel it in my limbs and in my head..." Katara drifted off her words nearly forgotten as soon as they left her mouth. Her mind was fuzzy and her limbs felt weak, to even hold her eyelids open was like a struggle. 'Why should I not close them?' She wondered foggily. 'just close my eyes and sleep. That's what night time is for, right?'

Thoughts raced through Zuko's head, Katara wasn't alright. There was something wrong, terribly wrong. He saw Katara start to sway and close her eyes ,the fire pit was right in front of her. Zuko leaped from where he was sitting and caught Katara just before she swayed into the still hot embers.

"Katara, stay awake, Katara come on, Katara!" Zuko held her face in his hands, her head rested on his lap. Her face was ice cold. He touched her neck gently with his palm ,it too was cold, but he could feel a heart beat strong inside it. "Katara! Come on stay awake! Stay with me! Katara! Katara!" her eyelids fluttered open for a moment and her voice in the most hushed of whispers said, "so....cold..." Her eyes closed again and she shuttered violently. Zuko twisted toward the fire pit and shot a flame at the half burned logs. When they were alight, Zuko turned back to Katara lying prone on his lap. She needed warmth ,fast, and there was only one way Zuko could think of to heat her fast enough. He quickly moved Katara so she was lying on her side on top of her sleeping bag. Zuko stripped off his shirt and lay down beside her, wrapping one arm around her waist, pulling her close to his hot skin, the other arm went under her head, his palm making a living pillow for her icy cheek. Zuko was tiring from the constant low firebending he was using, he just hoped that if he fell asleep his body heat would be enough to keep Katara from sinking to that temperature again. Slowly as he drifted off one thought entered his head, "She's gonna kill me when she wakes up."


	11. Demons

Dawn

Chapter 11- Demons

Katara was standing in a dark room. A cold wind blew and she shivered. She sensed that there was another presence in the dark, but she didn't turn to look.

"Who are you?"

"You need not know my name, small one." a slithery voice whispered in the dark.

"Why am I here?" she asked slowly almost sleepily.

"You are here, my dear, to realize your destiny." the voice purred in her ear.

"I am?" Katara didn't move at all, "destiny is a funny thing."

"Oh, sweet child, you have much to learn." a picture formed in front of Katara. "Look little girl, is that you?"

The picture was of Katara waterbending. She looked extremely happy with a large grin on her face.

"Yes, that is me." Katara said.

"No, child it's not."

"It isn't?"

"No. That is the mask you wear. You hide your true face from your friends."

"I do?"

"Yes, this is your real face." as the voice spoke the picture changed into a scene where she was crying.

"But I'm crying. I don't want to cry." Katara said in a drifting tone.

"Ah ,but little one, how many times have you had that face on when your friends are asleep?"

"Many," Katara said, "many times. Many times I have cried in the dark."

"Yes, my dear, many times. I must go now but I will see you again."

Katara felt the presence leave and she slowly drifted in the blackness waiting, but for what she didn't know.

Katara came awake slowly. The first thing she was aware of was how warm she was and how delicious that warmth felt. She seemed to be encased in a warm cocoon. It had been a long time since she was that warm. Even the pillow against her cheek seemed to be resonating heat. Next she was aware of a strange 'thump-thump, thump-thump' against her back. It was almost soothing but so foreign that she wasn't sure. The next thing she noticed was not by her wandering mind. She felt a strong arm pulling her closer to a muscled body and a slight breeze of hot breath on her neck. Katara panicked for a moment, what was going on, who was behind her? Thoughts swirled around her mind as she tried to look behind her without disturbing the person next to her. She didn't want to move and have an enemy throwing punches because he was grumpy from being woken up. She craned her neck to try to see who was behind her. The person she saw first brought a blush to her face ,then brought rage. Katara threw Zuko's arm off her waist and pushed him on to the hard ground, off the sleeping bag. Zuko came awake confused and with a furious Katara towering over him. What was worse, Katara had two water whips in her very capable hands.

"Zuko you have exactly ten seconds to explain why I woke up to not just you near me, but physically hugging me, while I was unconscious. What the hell happened last night?!!?" Katara said through gritted teeth. She was just barley keeping her cool.

"Katara I swear I didn't..."

"Ten......nine...."

"You were freezing to death!!! Your body was literally ice cold, you either fainted or fell asleep and almost fell into the coals of last night's fire. I caught you just before you got burned. If your body temperature dropped any lower you would have died. The only way I could think of to warm you up fast enough was to start the fire again and sleep next to you. I'm naturally warm because I'm a firebender. I swear Katara I would never disrespect you! You have to believe me!" Zuko poured out in a rush. He had worked hard to try and gain some trust from Katara, this couldn't be the end. Katara lowered her water whips a little.

"It might be me being an over-trusting fool but I believe you." she bent the whips back into the bowl of water they had collected the day before for morning washing. She sat down away from him.

"Katara... what happened last night?"

"You're asking me?!"

"I mean what happened to you? You were fine one moment and passed out the next!" there was a strain in Zuko's voice that Katara couldn't quite place. She put her head in her hands,

"Zuko," she looked at him, her heart beat pounded in her arms and head, "I really don't know."

"Did you dream last night?"

"Yes, and no. I can remember images... a voice... but nothing clear. Only one thing stuck in my mind and it kind of scares me." She got up to pace as she talked.

"What is it?"

"There was a picture of me crying and a cold voice saying, 'your real face'. But that's it. Everything else is all jumbled pictures and voices and feelings."

"And you were crying in the picture?"

"Yes."

"Hmm...Katara how long ago was the first time your friends saw you cry?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You were talking about it before, about the time your friends saw you cry, when you decided to hide that part of you from them. How long ago was that?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe three or four months." Katara looked away, fiddling with her braid. She was uncertain about this line of questioning.

"Hmm." Zuko was deep in thought. Something was nagging at his mind but he couldn't remember what. He had a feeling it was important.

"Zuko... what are you thinking?"

"Hmm..."

"Zuko?"

"..."

"Zuko!"

"What?!?" he snapped out of his daze.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm trying to remember something but it's just not coming!" Zuko breathed a small jet of fire out his nose in frustration. To his surprise Katara giggled. When Zuko turned his head around sharply she quickly put both her hands over her mouth.

"What's so funny?" He demanded.

"Nothing! Nothing!"

"Katara..."

"Fine, fine. It's just... you still have that temper of yours. It just strikes me as funny." she smiled again pulling her hands away from her mouth. Suddenly her head started to pound and pain rushed behind her eyes. She gasped for air and fell against the stone wall behind her. She slid down the rough wall and hugged her knees, forehead resting against them, breathing hard breaths in and out.

"Katara!" his anger forgotten, Zuko rushed to her side, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"My...head...gods...my...head." She gasped out.

"What happened? Katara, what happened?!?" Zuko was next to her again, hands in the air next to her shoulders, unsure of what to do. He wanted to hold her in case she passed out again but wasn't enthusiastic about what Katara's reaction might be, seeing as she was freaked out already about waking up to him.

"I don't know. I don't know. Oh gods Zuko," She looked up and into his eyes, "help me." the pain increased and a tear leaked out of her eye.

Zuko saw a tear roll down her cheek, he guessed that the pain was immense, Katara didn't cry over a simple headache. As the tear fell, a scary calm expression covered Katara's face. Her eyes lost their focus and goosebumps raised her skin. In a second it was over, but Zuko couldn't stop staring.

"Zuko...why...why are you staring at me like that?" Katara asked wearily.

"Don't you remember what just happened?!?"Zuko said in surprise.

"Yes I got a headache and stumbled against the wall and then you came over, and...and then... and then the pain went away....and now," she shivered rubbing her arms, "and now I'm freezing! How did it get so cold in here?"

"That's not what I meant. Right after you shed a tear, you got this look on your face and your eyes wouldn't focus and you got goosebumps. Don't you remember any of that?!"

"Zuko...what are you talking about? That didn't happen. Did it?" there was fear in Katara's eyes.

"I swear to you ,Katara, it did happen." Zuko looked into her eyes, there was so much fear in those eyes.

"Zuko..." she whispered, "Whats happening to me?"

They just looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity but was really only a few seconds. The moment ended when Katara shivered violently, her body shaking visibly.

"How could I get so cold?" she stammered out, "I was warm a minute ago."

"Katara, give me your hands." Zuko said.

"What!? Why?!"

"Just do it."

She hesitantly put out her hands and Zuko took them.

"Gods! You're freezing! He reached up and touched her forehead, "You need to get warm NOW!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, if you think your going to get away with what ever you did last night you're dead wrong." Katara pulled her hands away and looked at Zuko with fire in her eyes, daring him to object.

" Gods Katara I'm not like that! You just need to sit next to me." Zuko shuffled back a little ways and covered his face with one hand. Katara thought she saw a blush on his face.

"Fine, I'll let you warm me, but we have to be outside." She staked out the entrance of the cave.

'She still doesn't trust me.' Zuko thought, 'she doesn't want to go outside for the scenery, she wants to be close to something she can bend.' He sighed and headed out of the cave.

Katara was sitting a few feet from the spring. She was hugging her knees to her chest and her head was turned away from him. He could see her shivering. The thing was, it was a summer day, the sun was up but it was like she couldn't feel it. Zuko sat down next to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes?" she said without facing him.

"To firebend you warm I'm going to have to put an arm around you, is that okay?" His voice was rough with embarrassment.

"Fine, whatever." Her voice was listless. There was no trace of her former anger.

"You're really okay with this?" Zuko was slightly shocked considering what she had acted like before.

"Yes, no, I don't know anymore. Suddenly it feels so empty. Suddenly -I- feel so empty. Suddenly I realize that dreams don't come true, least of all my dream, and that the point of life is to be alive, but how can I do that when I feel so dead. Is it even worth fighting this...thing...this....disease, that has taken over my days and nights?"

"How long?" Zuko's question was blunt and direct.

"What do you mean?" Katara still didn't face him, her voice stayed listless and calm.

"How long have you been having these random pains and cold spells?"

"Since Ba Sing Se." Zuko winced.

"Did you ever let your friends see you when they happened?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I couldn't let them see me being weak." She shivered again and Zuko remembered what he needed to do. He sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. He sent waves of heat off his body and into hers. He could feel the cold of her skin when he touched her and was surprised that she wasn't passed out.

"Katara you are not weak. You need to let your friends know what's happening. What if you got hurt? Your feelings are part of who you are. Katara listen to this: you must never give in to despair, if you allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is what my uncle told me right before I left him to find myself. I was near despair, I was confused and angry. I was loosing myself. Katara, you are loosing yourself, don't give in to despair, never forget who you are." Zuko unknowingly spoke the words of Katara's dead mother.

Those words echoed in Katara's mind: -never forget who you are -never forget who you are -never forget who you are- And images of her mother flashed through her head, a faded memory of her mother singing her to sleep, of her mother making her a doll, giving her food, dancing with her one festival night, of her mother's warm smile and deep blue eyes, and then the tragic fresco of her mother lying on the snow, blood dripping from her stomach handing her daughter the necklace she wore even now and whispering -never forget who you are-.

By the time Zuko was finished speaking, Katara's face was turned to the front. Her lips moved in a silent statement -mother-. She fell back, as if passing out, but her eyes were wide open.

"Katara? Zuko laid her on the ground gently, worried, "Katara!?" he was growing more alarmed the longer her eyes were open and she wasn't talking. "KATARA!!!" Zuko shouted, fear seizing him. He checked for a pulse on her wrist and got one, she was alive. What was going on? Something major was wrong. Then a thought entered his head, what if this wasn't a physical problem, what if this was mental or spiritual. Zuko thought back to his time in Ba Sing Se, when he had been battling between his old life and his new life. He remembered how sick he had become when he was in the darkest part of his battle. He also remembered how his uncle had cared for him, he wasn't sure he would be here if Iroh hadn't been there. He knew that he needed to be there for Katara now. The only problem was, he had no idea what to do.

Images were flashing through Katara's mind faster than she could comprehend. When suddenly they stopped. She felt the chill presence once more and once more it spoke.

"Hello child, have you been showing your true face?"

"A little."

"I know I forced you to show it."

"You caused me that pain? And all the times before it?"

"Yes, my dear, but it was all for your own good."

"How can pain be good?"

"It helped you to show your true face."

"But I don't like to cry."

"Oh, little girl, don't hide. Why should you be happy when your mother is dead, your father is in prison, your friends don't understand you, the fire nation has taken Ba Sing Se, and the hope for the world is a small child who is grievously injured? You have no right to be happy, you have no right to have hope." the voice lost it's caring tinge and turned acidic.

"But Aang is alive and we have time before the comet."

Katara was sent rocketing back from a slap by an unseen hand.

"Stupid girl! You have no right to hope! You are weak and empty. No one shall ever love you because you have nothing! You are nothing! Even those who have nothing shall hate you!"

"But what about my friends? They love me."

"Fool! People lie! You think they are your friends but you are wrong. It is human nature to lie and cheat and twist others to your will."

Katara was getting desperate. She needed something in her life that could not be twisted, something that could not be doubted. She reached for the first thing that came into her head.

"What about Zuko? He's like me but he's also the opposite. What about my relationship with him?"

"You mean the relationship were you lick each others wounds? You have nothing and no one, my dear."

Katara wanted to cover her ears. This wasn't right! It couldn't be!

"no,no,NO!" she screamed.

Zuko was laying Katara down on her sleeping bag when she let out a cry and a red mark spread out on her cheek. It looked like a slap mark.

"how in the world..." Zuko whispered. A second later she mumbled "...what about Zuko..." His curiosity was peeked now and he wished he could see her fevered dreams.

"no,no,no!" she said, pain in her voice. Her skin was still deathly cold. He started to firebend her warm again, propping her torso against his and hugging her around the waist. "Please be alright, Katara." he whispered.


	12. Fighting

Dawn

Chap. 12 Fighting

As the warmth from the firebender moved to the waterbender, she slowly shuttered in her sleep and closed her eyes. Katara's head was lolled back resting on Zuko's shoulder, the red mark displayed openly on her cheek. Her hair had fallen out of it's braid long ago, Zuko wasn't sure when, sometime between last night and now. Zuko's head hung over Katara's shoulder, his hair falling low, covering his face.

"You've got to wake up, Katara, please, wake up." Zuko whispered, "You've gotta fight it! You never give up. I saw that in how you fight... how you fought... me. You gave everything you had to protect your friend. You pushed aside your feelings in Ba Sing Se to help me, ME, the person who hunted you like an animal. And still you don't give up on me. You still try to change me. Katara you haven't given up on me, don't give up on yourself." As if in response to the words Katara muttered something in her fevered sleep, "no...right to...hope... no right to....be happy.."

"That's not true." Zuko didn't know why he was still speaking, she couldn't hear him, could she? "Everyone has a right to be happy, and hope is something you give yourself, no one can take that away."

Deep in her mind Katara felt a warmth spread through her. She closed her eyes. A voice she recognized sounded near her ear, "You've got to wake up, Katara, please, wake up." it whispered, "You've gotta fight it! You never give up. I saw that in how you fight... how you fought... me. You gave everything you had to protect your friend. You pushed aside your feelings in Ba Sing Se to help me, ME, the person who hunted you like an animal. And still you don't give up on me. You still try to change me. Katara you haven't given up on me, don't give up on yourself." It was Zuko's voice, but...different... filled with some kind of emotion Katara didn't recognize. It made his voice thick and low and velvety smooth. She moaned out an answer, "But it said I had no right to hope, no right to be happy."

Zuko's voice came again a little more desperate, but with that same emotion. "Everyone has a right to be happy, and hope is something you give yourself, no one can take that away."

"Please Zuko, please stay with me."

There was a battle raging in Zuko's head, or was it his heart? All the emotions agreed that he had to stay and help the waterbender, but there was a small voice that whispered, "Are you really doing this just for your scar? If it was healed could you just walk away from her? Simply step out of her life?" The thing that scared him was that the answer ,no, came first into his mind, instead of yes. Of course as soon as these thoughts entered his head he crushed them down. He was there for his scar and his scar only, she couldn't heal it if she was dead, so he was taking care of her. So why was he now talking to her? Maybe he just had to vent emotion. At the palace he was always hiding. Hiding from his sister, from his confusion, from his guilty conscience. He decided to keep talking, it seemed to relax Katara a bit, and ,he reasoned, he needed to vent. Just to let his emotions go. And besides, it wasn't like Katara could hear him or anything.

"You really are amazing." he started, "You gave up your home and safety to help the avatar. You give up everything for your friends, even your emotions, so that they may be safe. I could never do that, no one has ever loved me as much as your friends must love you, except for my uncle, but I ruined that. Gods, I wish I could take back the words I said to him. Your friends are so lucky, they have you. And they don't even realize... I want to make them realize what they do to you. What hiding your emotions does to you. I used to think that tears were signs of weakness, but now I realize they help. They help you find closure, they help sadness slip out, they help those who care know something is wrong, or sometimes when something is so extremely right. You've got to let them out. You've gotta scream to the sky and just let them go. Sometimes it's the only thing that helps. When my father banished me I let only one aspect of my life control me. I put all my rage, and sadness, and frustration fuel my drive. I would train endlessly, eat less and less, sleep barely a few hours a night, and still I beat my head against my wall wanting so bad to break down. I finally fell apart, years later, on top of a mountain screaming into the sky, as rain pelted my face." he sighed, "that seems so long ago now."

Katara heard every word that Zuko spoke. He said she was amazing, he said her friends were lucky to have her, he said she wasn't weak for crying. For some reason she believed every word. Maybe she believed him because he also talked about his father, maybe it was that strain in his voice, maybe it was the pounding of her heart. The voice came again, to haunt her.

"Do you really believe those lies?" It hissed in her ear.

"Yes." she said, in complete honesty.

"Why? He is the enemy! He has done nothing but hunt you all these months!"

All the images of the kindness she had seen him use toward her in the last two days sped through Katara's mind. When he had helped her heal herself then let her go, letting her cry into his shoulder, apologizing for her nightmares, saying her bending was beautiful, telling her the story of the son of the sun and the daughter of the moon, tickling her like an older brother, listening to her without scoffing at her like an older brother, keeping her alive through the night, and even now, helping her face her inner demon.

She knew it was her inner demon that now haunted her. There were stories of waterbenders succumbing to their inner demons and going insane with the twisted minds of the demons controlling their bodies. The demons were born in waterbenders when they endured a great amount to strife and loss in their lives in a short time. In a terrifying way her situation was ideal for a demon, she was loosing hope, her friend was grievously hurt, and she was in close quarters with an enemy. But Zuko wasn't an enemy anymore, he was much closer to a friend.

"No. He is not an enemy." she said steadfastly, remembering the words her gran-gran had told her at the end of the stories,

---once you conquer an inner demon, it can never attack you again, it is their demon law.---

"All people have a right to hope and a right to happiness. My friends may not understand me completely but that is part my fault, I have closed them off. Aang will survive. I have never been hated by anyone who matters to me and that is all I care about. Zuko is not my enemy." her tone was of absolute confidence. She felt the cold presence slink away leaving her mind. She felt weary, bone weary. Katara slipped into a natural sleep.

Zuko was still holding Katara, still bending warmth into her when he heard her sigh in an amazingly soft and comfortable way. Her head turned slightly so her face was turned toward his neck. Zuko could feel Katara's body warming up swiftly now. It was returning to it's normal coolness, not that deathly coldness that had been her skin mere moments ago. He relaxed, realizing that she would be fine. He held her a few more moments to really make sure she was okay before gently laying her onto her sleeping bag. As his hands slowly let go of her head his fingers trailed along her cheek for a moment. Katara's eyes opened sleepily and she whispered, "Zuko?"

He leaned over her and replied in a soft voice, "yes?"

A small sleepy smile crossed her face, "Thank you" she then fell back into a deep natural sleep. Zuko smiled a small smile and whispered, "Your welcome Katara."

He moved quietly over to the ashes of last night's fire and put three more logs in the pit. He then firebended a small ball of fire toward the logs, setting them alight. Zuko got a small pot of water and boiled a few strips of jerky in the water to make a sort of broth for Katara when she woke up. He also attempted tea but when he tasted his efforts he dumped it, realizing that it would probably make Katara sicker than she already was. He got himself a piece of bread, some cheese, and a strip of jerky. Zuko really hadn't noticed until now but he was starving, it had been about a day since he had eaten last.

Zuko started ruminating about Katara. He was more sure now that the sickness that had taken hold of her was of a mental or spiritual origin, but what exactly had happened? When she had spoken to him during her fevered sleep, she had said 'no right to hope, no right to be happy' and to him, it sounded as if she was talking about herself. What had caused her to say that? What twisted, abusive dream had made her sound like that? Zuko moved over to Katara's side, watching her. She looked so innocent when she slept naturally. Innocent and … Zuko searched for the right word. Kind? No, she always looked kind unless she was angry with you, which with Zuko she frequently was. Child-like? Not quite , young though she was at fourteen, she was no child. Brave? No, that fell away when she slept. Almost unconsciously he reached out and fiddled with one of her 'hair-loopies' as her brother had called them once.

Zuko was a great believer in 'know thy enemy' and had heard the siblings get into a fight once on one of his numerous spying missions. They had been yelling at each other and her brother made some snide comment about them. Afterward she had quickly bended a stream close by to grab Sokka and pull him in.

The small bit of hair had become detached from it's place on the side of her bun when that bun had come loose like the rest of her hair. The thin long river of hair was cool and silky against his warm fingers. The rich brown color shined in the fire light. What was he doing? Zuko quickly dropped the lock of hair. He looked at Katara again. What was the word he was looking for? Katara was lying on her side ,long legs slightly bent, toes slightly pointed, her arm was draped over her waist accentuating how thin it was. Her other arm was out in front of her, elbow bent , hand resting near her face which was turned toward him, red mark hidden. He could imagine the blue of her eyes, when suddenly he actually saw them, those big blue eyes. They opened sleepily and Katara whispered,

"Zuko?"

"Yes Katara?" he answered.

"Remember watching the sunset?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"That was the first time I've heard you laugh... it was a beautiful sound." Katara's voice drifted away as she fell back asleep. Zuko sat there slightly stunned. She had found the word he was looking for... beautiful.

She was beautiful. And he knew it to be true.


	13. Yuansu Juedou

Dawn

Chap. 13 Yuansu Juedou

Katara was happily dreaming. It was a memory-dream of yesterday, when she and Zuko had watched the sunset. She dreamed of it like she was a spectator watching a play. Zuko pinned her to the rock and she squirmed under his one hand. She started laughing and Zuko started tickling her. She laughed harder and gasped for breath, and then she heard another sound, a ringing sound full of amusement. Her focus turned to Zuko. He was laughing! It was a wonderful laugh, a beautiful laugh. The image stayed, Katara and Zuko, laughing together as he held her to a rock, hand slightly around her waist from tickling her. The bright orange glow from the sunset gave the whole affair a warm light about it and for once in his life Zuko was grinning broadly. The sound of his laughter echoed around, bouncing off of unseen surfaces.

Zuko's laughter drifted away while Katara awoke to simply utter "Zuko?"

When she heard a reply she asked, "remember watching the sunset?"

The answer was affirmative, "that was the first time I heard you laugh...it was a beautiful sound." She drifted back into the welcoming blackness of sleep.

When Katara awoke about two hours later she found Zuko propped up against the wall, asleep. She looked at him and smiled, 'He must have been fire bending all the time I was fighting my demon, no wonder he's asleep.' Katara got up and poured herself a bowl of the jerky-broth that Zuko had made. 'He's been so kind. I need to thank him when he wakes up.' she thought sipping the broth. It was still warm from the dieing fire and the liquid felt glorious down her throat. It warmed her through and through.

She walked over to her pack and rummaged through it, finding what she wanted, Katara moved back to Zuko. She set her things aside and gently moved Zuko's body to the ground, praying he wouldn't wake up. Thankfully he didn't. Katara grabbed one of the things she had brought over, it was a pillow. She gently put it under his head, while pulling her hands back a finger tip brushed his scar and Zuko shivered in his sleep. Katara's heart hurt when she thought about what he had gone through getting that scar.

"I'm so sorry." she said in the most hushed of tones. "so very sorry."

She continued to grab things from her collection from the pack.

Zuko heard the whisper. He had woken the moment the waterbender moved him off the wall, but he faked sleep to find out what she would do. He felt an odd sensation when he heard those words come from her mouth. He couldn't quite place what it was. He felt Katara place a blanket over him gently, still hoping not to wake him. Then she turned away from him for a few minutes and he heard the clink of a cup. Zuko was agonizingly curious. What was she doing? He didn't dare open his eyes in case she turned toward him at the wrong time. He heard a small /click/ and could smell a warm soothing smell. He heard Katara's footsteps leave the cave. He waited a minute and when all was silence, then sat up. He found that the blanket was one of Katara's own, blue with delicate stitching of the moon in it, he found also that the pillow was Katara's taken from her sleeping bag. Turning his head he spotted a cup of tea beside him for when he woke up. He smiled, she must have expected he could heat it faster himself as a firebender but she had still taken the time to get it warmed by the embers of the fire. Zuko took a sip. It was good. Not as good as his uncle, but good none the less. Zuko got up, still holding the tea, to see where Katara went.

Katara was standing by the spring, a half moon above her head. She untied her dress and slipped off her pants so that she was in only her swim wear. She shivered as a small breeze rustled the foliage around the spring. She slowly bent a stream of water in front of her then she turned so that the small clearing was facing her. She bent the water up to form ice stairs going from her feet into open air. She climbed the steps. When she reached the top (about eight or nine feet in the air) she bent a thick pole of ice right in front of her and another about five feet in front of that one. The two poles were connected by a thin line of taught water held by Katara's waterbending. Katara took a tentative step onto the first pole, gaining her balance. Zuko was nervous. He was watching this spectacle with awe and worry. What if she fell? What if she was injured? Should she be doing this so soon after her sickness? Of course not! He was about to call out to her when she took a few quick steps to the middle of the water-string. She made a gesture with her hands and another ice pole emerged from the spring and floated to a spot in front of the first two. Katara made another quick gesture with her hands and a series of blunt spikes protruded from the third pole. Katara then proceeded to jump off the water-string.

She sailed down toward the ground flailing her arms, but her face wasn't scared, it was deeply concentrated. Suddenly one of the blunt spikes reacted to her flailing limbs, it caught her around the waist, throwing her back into the air. Katara kept moving her arms and legs in difficult patterns and the water spikes were like arms catching her, throwing her, flipping her upside down. Zuko was watching from the edge of the clearing astounded, when Katara noticed him. Her concentration broke and the water arm holding her dissolved into falling droplets of water, Katara fell. She wasn't an incredible height off the ground, about six feet up but if she fell to earth it would be severely painful.

Zuko sprang into action. He took three running steps and leaped forward catching Katara from mid-air. His momentum brought them shooting sideways, tumbling to the ground and over each other. When they finally stopped moving Zuko opened his eyes to see that he was on top of Katara, their faces barely two inches apart. Katara was looking at him ,face flushed bright crimson. Zuko could feel the heat of a blush rise up his neck and he quickly rolled off Katara.

"Um, well, uh..." he stuttered, unable to think of what to say. Katara was lying on the ground, propped on one elbow, with a stunned expression on her features.

"Thank you..." she breathed out, "You saved me, again. But weren't you asleep?"

Her question made Zuko chuckle under his breath.

"To tell the truth, I woke up the moment you moved me off the wall."

"Why didn't you say anything?!?" Katara accused him.

"Well, at first it was training." Zuko explained, "I was always taught that if you wake up confused and away from familiar surroundings, pretend that you're asleep and listen to the people around you. When I was fully awake and aware of were I was, I just got curious. I wondered what you would do."

"You didn't have to come after me." Katara answered defiantly, "I can take care of myself."

"As you just showed me when I had to save your life." Zuko snorted.

"Well I would have been fine if you hadn't been there!"

"What, do I distract you?" he replied with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. He raised himself to one elbow and flexed the muscles in his right arm.

"In your dreams, spoiled brat!" Katara stood up and turned her back to him.

"Oh so now the peasant is name calling, how uncivilized." Zuko stood too, a smirk still on his face. He knew he had the upper hand.

"Oh?" Katara spun on her heal, fire raging in her eyes, "So what do 'civilized' people do to settle arguments?"

"Well, usually we have an agni kai but seeing as you're..." Katara cut him off,

"I challenge you to a yuansu juedou!" she said in a serious and furious voice.

"You challenge me to a what?" Zuko was startled, he didn't think she would get this angry, maybe it had to do with messing up her bending and falling.

"You heard me, a yuansu juedou, an element duel, right here, right now. Unless that is, you're scared?" Katara was right in his face now, her eyes blazed with blue passion.

"Alright, no maiming or killing though."

"Fine and one more thing, do NOT go easy on me."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Good."

They both walked to opposite ends of the clearing and Katara bent the ice poles to form a thick ring of water around herself. Zuko bent two balls of flame surrounding his hands. They stalked around each other, waiting for the first strike to be cast. Katara thought out her attack plan,

' Zuko's impatient, I'll let him strike first, let the pressure build. I know his firebending stances are blunt and hard, each release of flame is at the extent of the movement, if I can get close in he can't perform to the full apex, that is when I strike.'

At the same time, Zuko was weighing his options,

' I'll attack fast and hard, her waterbending stances are fluid, if I can cut off her movements, will win.'

Zuko attacked swiftly shooting two arcs of flame sideways at Katara. She took a running start and did a sideways leap in between the two arcs, one passed below her and the other above. She ran toward him shooting three dulled ice spikes. They would pack a punch but not actually pierce his skin. As she expected Zuko shot flame at the three spikes, and while he was distracted Katara bent the water around her feet so she could ice skate, it was faster than running, much faster, and she reached behind Zuko before he could turn. She had gotten much closer. Zuko whirled around spewing flame from his fists, Katara shot a lane of ice in front of her and hit the deck, sliding right under the column of fire. Zuko was letting her get close so he could cut off her movements but he was surprised at how agile and creative she was. Katara wasn't letting any of her precious element be wasted in attempts to smother the flames, instead she saved it by dodging the flames completely. She was about six feet in front of him. She was finally close enough. Katara started a form, but he cut off her movement by sending flame were he estimated her arm would go, as he expected the water she was bending dropped. She tried several more times but he blocked them all. He started a firebending punch but his arm was pushed back. In surprise he looked down to see that Katara had slid under his vision and pushed his arm into the air. He swung the other arm but when it came around Katara ducked and pushed his shoulder forward making him loose his balance. One thought raced through both their minds,

'I have to strike NOW!'

Katara shot a thick stream of water strait into Zuko's face while at the same moment he made a violent movement with his arms to shoot a column of fire at the waterbender. The result was a torrent of thick steam that completely surrounded the pair. Neither could see but both stayed ready to fight. The sound of the water being evaporated was deafening and both pairs of ears were ringing. When the sound stopped, the silence pushed down on them. Neither moved, neither spoke. The tension built.

When the steam finally cleared they stared into each others eyes, Katara held a wave of water back, Zuko held a large ball of flame between his hands. Both were ready to unleash their forces. Zuko cracked a smile,

"I'd say that's a draw, agreed?" Katara looked into his eyes looking for double cross.

"Agreed." she said lowering her wave back into the spring. Zuko made the flame in his hands disappear.

"Come on, lets get back to camp."


	14. Elements

Dawn

Chapter 14 Elements

Katara nodded and started to walk toward the cave.

"Uh, Katara?" Zuko coughed and sounded extremely embarrassed.

"What?" she asked

"Your clothes." he said turning red and pointing.

"Oh Gods!" Katara ran over and slid on her garments in a second. She couldn't even pretend she wasn't embarrassed, her swim wear was her underwear after all.

Zuko was looking at the ground ,the blush still raging on his face, when Katara turned around. He had noticed that she was in her swimming outfit when he first saw her, it was kind of hard to miss, and his teenage brain started to think about how beautiful she was bathed in moon light. Then she had fallen and his mind went into save-lives mode. But when Katara stood in front of him after their fight the thoughts came back. How pretty she was even after their element-induced steam bath had made them both sweat profusely. What it would feel like to hold her in his arms. Zuko mentally slapped himself. This was not the way to think. Katara pushed past him and he saw a blush on her face as well.

When they reached the cave both teens had reduced the redness on their cheeks to a slight flush. They sat next to each other looking at the fire that Zuko had restarted.

"How does it feel?" Katara asked staring into the flames.

"How does what feel?" Zuko was mystified, what was she talking about?

"How does it feel to hold fire?"

"Oh, um," Zuko tried to find words to explain, "It's a bit like feeling a heart beat," he conjured a flame in his hand, "It's wild and free and you want to let it go, but at the same time you know that it can be the worst of evils with it's ever-present hunger. It's a euphoric feeling and at the same time it's a grievous responsibility. Fire can deceive you, you can peer into it's flickering heart and see warmth and comfort or hunger and savagery. Fire is two faced and one of the deepest most ancient powers of the earth. It is a danger you cannot live without. It sings an ancient song of help and hurt." Katara was stunned. She hadn't expected something so deep from Zuko.

"So what about you? What does it feel like to wield water?"

"Oh well, you know how it feels to touch water but in some way there's...more. You can feel the flow, the energy. I guess there's a connection. I can sense water nearby, like a tugging on my mind or the whisper of a forgotten song at my ear. The song of Twi and La, push and pull, moon and tide. The nature of water is to be strong in size, as the rivers flow to oceans, and

yet a single cup can save a life from dieing of thirst. It's like being in tune with the blood of nature, but of course it can be violent too. It can be terrifying and destructive if it is challenged. Wind can whip it into a temper and it can beat against stone until there is nothing left. It can tear down buildings and flood until life has to flee. It can kill slowly with ice and it can squeeze every drop of air from your lungs. And yet ,at the same time, it can be gentle and heal. I guess it's a bit like playing with fire." Katara cracked a grin when she said that. Then ,on a more serious note, she said, "I want to thank you. Without you, I would probably be in mortal peril from my... my demon. If you hadn't said those things..." Zuko cut her off,

"You heard that!?!" again he could feel the heat of a blush rising up his neck and onto his face.

"What? Was I not supposed to?"

"Um, well, I thought you couldn't hear me, so no not really." he finished lamely. Katara turned to him, his face was away from her, she took her hands and turned his face so their eyes could meet.

"Did you lie?" her voice was dead serious and her deep blue eyes bore into his gold ones.

"No, I swear by the sun in the sky that I did not lie when I spoke those words." Zuko told the truth, Katara could see it in his eyes.

"Thank you." she said simply letting her hands slowly fall from his face. Zuko didn't want them to leave, he wanted her to hold his face gently and let him look into those blue eyes and drown in them. He had thought that before he realized he was thinking. What was happening to him?

"You saved me with those words." her voice was soft.

"What do you mean? What exactly happened?" Zuko was curious, he wanted to know the story.

"A waterbender can develop an inner demon when they are put under to much physical and emotional stress in a short amount of time. We open a portal into the spirit world when almost all of our chaukras are blocked, because our bending is an emotional, physical, and mental process. If I get angry and there is a large source of water nearby, it will react, it will churn and froth up. The same if I have overwhelming sadness, the water will smooth out and sometimes freeze. The water will take on the feelings I feel and express them in movement unless I bend it in a different way.

The demon could reach me through the portal and it tried to take over my body. It did this by feeding my negative thoughts and feelings, telling me that they were right. They made me not care about anything because it told me that I was worthless and all my relationships were lies. Once it slapped me ,although, that might have been a dream."

"It wasn't a dream." Zuko said, gently touching her cheek where the red mark still stained her cheek. "You've got the mark to prove it." Shivers ran down Katara's back when he touched her face. His hands were strong and bigger than her own ,but they touched her skin with such gentle fingers it almost could have been a caress. She wanted it to be a caress. Katara was startled by that thought, extremely startled. She stuttered out,

"I'll um.. have to heal, that uh, later." then she launched back into her tale,

"I was about to fall, about to tip over the edge and give in, when I heard your voice. You spoke comfort to me and suddenly I could see that my life was worth living, that the only lies were the ones it was telling me. Suddenly I could see light again. And...and..." she let out a huge yawn, "Zuko, please tell me you're just as tired as I am." Zuko let out a chuckle,

"Yes Katara I'm just as tired as you are."

"So I'm normal?"

"Yes you're normal, although ,in my opinion, you're extraordinary." he whispered. Throughout the telling of her fight with her demon, Katara had inched closer to Zuko, and finally, wound up resting her head on his shoulder, and before he uttered his last words she was asleep. Zuko gently picked her up and laid her on her sleeping bag. He then moved to his own mat and brought it closer to hers, in case she woke during the night from a return of her demon. As he lay down facing her he had the sudden urge to kiss her forehead. He was stunned by this notion.

His tired mind started to put together bits and pieces. He had told her about his scar, a story he rarely told. He had consoled Katara after hearing about her mother's death and after that dream she had had. He had listened to her. He had felt pain when she had been fighting her demon, the worry that she might never wake up. That voice in his head telling him this was for more than his scar. He had realized that Katara was beautiful and acknowledged it. He had watched her from afar and wondered what it would be like to hold her in his arms. He had wanted to drown in her eyes. Should he... could he... was he... falling in _love_ with Katara? It was either the shock from this thought or the pure exhaustion, but Zuko passed out, looking into Katara's face.

__________________________Authors Note__________________________

I want to thank everyone who gave me comments and reviews!! you guys are astrofantabulos!!! (my own word) I'm really sorry this chapter is so short, this was just the best place to end it. Chap. 15 is on its way! =) thank you all again!


	15. Love?

Dawn

Chapter 15 Love?

Katara awoke the next morning refreshed. She sat up and stretched, putting her arms over her head. She realized that she did not remember falling asleep in her sleeping bag. Zuko must have carried her over and laid her down. The thought brought a smile to her face. She glanced around and spotted Zuko ,still asleep, on his pallet. He had a small frown on his face. His bare chest rose and fell with even breaths. Katara's eyes drifted to his muscled torso and abs. He was good looking even with his scar. In fact, his scar gave him a sort of mysteriousness that gave an interesting dynamic to his features. It made him look handsome. Suddenly Katara realized what she was thinking and a dark blush ran up her face. She turned away from the sleeping figure. What was she thinking this was -Zuko-! The man who had chased them for months! The man who had betrayed her! But he wasn't an enemy anymore. It was like she had told her demon, he wasn't an enemy. This was confusing, could she see him as a friend now? As ...more... than a friend? Katara mentally slapped herself, this wasn't right. She wrenched her mind away from those thoughts. She heard a small groan ad turned to see Zuko looking at her, propped on one elbow, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Good morning," he said pleasantly, "sleep well?"

"Yes, thanks. And you?" she replied still fighting a slight blush.

"Um, yea, fine." Zuko stuttered slightly, he had just woken from a rather confusing dream about Katara. But it wasn't only about Katara, it was about someone else too. And he was kissing Katara. The dream was only a glimpse long but something about the stranger was oddly familiar. He had brown hair and two swords of some kind on his back. He was slightly taller than Katara. Zuko didn't get a clear look at his face because it was turned away from him and into Katara. He also saw that Katara had one hand raised, whether to pull him closer or to slap him, Zuko couldn't say. He hoped the latter. For that moment, Zuko was insanely jealous. He had wanted to hurt that...leech.... who dared to take Katara. Then he woke up, and when he realized it was a dream, he was unreasonably relieved. He was so confused by his dream that he didn't notice Katara's slight blush. Them his realization from last night hit him. 'Gods...' he thought, 'is that even possible? It would explain the dream.' he was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder.

"Whoa! What?" he shook his head and looked up to see Katara standing over him , a bemused expression on her face.

"I called you for breakfast. Are you always this out of it in the morning?"

"Uhh, not usually."

"And what has made you so, this fine morning?" Katara walked back to the pot over the fire she had started up.

"I had an... odd dream, last night."

"Want to tell me about it?" she asked

"No, it wasn't that interesting, I'll figure it out on my own." Zuko lied.

"Alright then, oh prince of dreams, here is your breakfast." Katara's light tone showed that she was simply teasing with the name. She brought over two bowls of rice with chopsticks over to him. Zuko took one and Katara took the other. They sat in companionable silence while they ate. To break the quiet, Zuko asked a question that had been on his mind,

"How exactly does your healing work?" Katara thought for a moment.

"Well... I'm not completely sure. I know that if I'm healing myself it's nearly automatic. The water just flows and I feel energized and new. I don't even have to think about it. But if I'm healing someone else I have to concentrate my energy on the wound and I have to truly care about healing that person. It's like I have to push my energy through the water and into the other person. But what really happens with the water, is a mystery even to me."

"Hmm," was all Zuko said in response.

Katara took their empty bowls and washed them outside in the spring. Zuko followed her out.

"Thank you for breakfast." he said.

"Oh, um, you're welcome." she replied

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Well our group doesn't have the best manners. I almost never get thanked for making food, or washing clothes, or anything, so it's just really nice to hear that." she said sheepishly.

"They really treat you like that?" Zuko was surprised.

"It's a relationship thing I guess. Sokka thinks it's a girl's job to do all that stuff and I'm kind of an adopted mother for the rest of them so, all the stuff I do is mostly expected." Katara shrugged.

"Then they must be falling apart without you right now." Zuko said.

"They'll survive." There was silence. It was then that Katara realized that Zuko had yet to put a shirt on. She quickly bent some water over to get her mind off her tumbling emotions. She started to heal various small burns she had received last night.

"Zuko," she asked, "where is that slap-mark you mentioned?"

"Oh it's right here." he reached out and lightly touched her right cheek bone. Katara shivered but it had nothing to do with pain. She reached up with her water glove and touched the same place, she could feel the tenderness fade away but the feeling of Zuko's fingers on her skin did not.

"Do you have any wounds?" she asked.

"Yes, one of your ice spikes skimmed my shoulder." he reached over to motion to his right shoulder where Katara could see slight bruising. She shuffled over and placed her water glove over his shoulder. In a few moments she lifted the glove and the bruise was gone.

"That is truly amazing." Zuko touched his shoulder, "I could feel it healing."

"It is an amazing feeling." agreed Katara. There was a lull in conversation as Katara bent water in swirls around her hand. She pulled the water into different shapes. Then she pulled the water into a mass in front of her. She blew on it and it slowly turned to ice. The ice blob sat suspended in the air between her two hands. She then turned it back into water. Holding the water steady, Katara breathed deeply. Then in a torrent of movement she spun her hands around, wove them into the water, and then violently pulled them back. The water separated into innumerable droplets like rain. Katara held them for a minute, steadying them. She moved her hands to try and control only part if the droplets. She had it for a minute, but then the other half fell and soaked her lap.

"Damn." she swore under her breath. Then she heard a chuckle behind her.

"What's so funny?!?" she asked indignantly.

"I've never heard you swear before." Zuko said, a grin in his voice.

"Gods, was that out loud?" Katara blushed. This only made Zuko laugh harder and soon Katara was laughing too. The moment was perfect. The sun was bright and neither teen cared if there was a war on. The moment was a golden one where time seemed to stand to stand still. Katara looked into Zuko's eyes and he looked into hers. There was some kind of understanding passed between them. Zuko broke the connection looking to the side, he launched himself at Katara knocking her out of the way. When they landed Katara was about to lay into Zuko when she looked back at where she had been sitting. There was a glistening arrow protruding from the ground.

Five men walked out of the trees surrounding the spring. They were big and carried various weapons. They were surrounded by bandits.

_________________________Authors Note______________________

again thank you all for your comments! =) I sorry this chap. Is so short the next one will be longer! Any guesses on who the mystery man kissing Katara is? Thank you all for comments!!


	16. Attack

Dawn

Chapter 16 Attack

Katara and Zuko sprung up back to back, never taking their eyes off their opponents. The small band seemed ragtag, just a small group of cut throats but that didn't mean they were any less dangerous. They could really be an organized team. Each member carried the weapon best suited to them. A man with a smaller build carried an array of throwing knives in his belt, another carried the bow that had shot the arrow intended for Katara. Still another carried a scimitar. A large one carried two spiked balls on chains wrapped around his beefy hands. The last one carried a long whip in one hand and a club in the other.

"Don't use our real names," Zuko whispered to Katara, "they might recognize them and use them against us. Use some other name that only I would know if you need to get my attention, I'll do the same for you."

"Okay." was all Katara answered.

"Give us your valuables and ...maybe... we won't hurt you," the leader of the group gestured to the man with the bow, "as you can see, Taow is a bit impatient."

"We don't have anything." Zuko said in a firm tone, body tensed read to fight.

"Well boys? He says they don't have anything, do we believe that?" the leader brandished his scimitar and pointed it at Zuko.

"No," replied the one with the throwing knives, currently he was deftly tapping the tip of a deadly sharp blade to the tip of his yellow uneven teeth, "No we don't believe them." his voice was sniveling and rat-like. All the bandits grinned and brandished their weapons in a threatening way. They slowly closed in on the pair.  
"Attack on my mark..." Zuko whispered through clenched teeth, "ready...set...go!"

Katara whipped her arms around and a stream of water shot to her from the stream. It circled around her in a ring, giving her access to shoot in any direction. She immediately shot two dulled spikes at two thugs. One smashed a spike using his chain mace and the other dodged the second projectile, he pulled out his whip. Katara bent a water whip for herself and lashed it at the burly man with the chain maces. It caught him on the ankle and he jumped at the sting of the water whip. Katara then shot two streams of water out, one to the man with the whip and club, the other to the beefy guy with the maces. The water pushed them back and knocked the wind out of them but they were soon up and running again. They ran toward Katara from opposite sides. She turned to the big one and took a stream of water she lashed it out three times at the large chain mace in his right hand. At first it looked as if nothing happened, then the spiked ball fell from the chain, one of the links had been completely cut through.

The big man was blessed with the duel gifts of bad luck and stupidity. He looked up at the chain as it was swinging. The chain ,being much lighter now, swung twice it's usual speed and hit him in the face. This particular chain was the thick heavy kind and being hit in the face is quite painful. The giant fell backwards, knocked out by his own weapon.

The other man was still coming. Seeing his comrade fall didn't faze him, he had never liked him. He reached for his whip and started to twirl it. He sent it out strait for Katara's head but she blocked it with an ice shield. She sent out a disk of razor-sharp ice toward the man. He smashed it with his club, apparently he was equally skilled with either hand. Katara ducked and sent a sheet of ice under the man's feet. He slipped but managed to shoot out his whip one more time before he fell. The whip found Katara's leg and it wound up to her thigh. The sting was terrible, it felt like her flesh was burning. The whip fell from her leg but the burning stayed. She saw small blades woven into the whip. Her leg was covered in puncture wounds.

"AAA!" she screamed out. The pain was immense. Blood dripped down her leg. The man had recovered from his stumble on the ice and was coming toward Katara brandishing his club. She lashed out a stream of water and froze his feet to the ground. She then encased the rest of his body, except for his head, in solid ice.

"Damn waterbending bitch!" He yelled.

"That is no way to talk to a lady." Suddenly Zuko was in front of the bandit, he swiftly knocked the heels of his hands to the temples of the man in front of him ,knocking him unconscious.

Zuko had been fighting off two other bandits, the one with the bow and arrows and the leader with the scimitar. They were lying on the ground unconscious. He had caught the leader's blade between his hands and melted the blade with firebending. The leader of the group was terrible at hand to had combat and was easily dispatched. The man with the bow and arrows was more difficult. He would run from cover to cover shooting a few arrows every time. Zuko deflected the arrows with firebending, but he couldn't get a good shot at his attacker. He had finally dispatched him by shooting a burst of flame at a tree the archer was hiding in. the man fell from the tree ,trying to escape a fiery grave, and wound up falling head first. Zuko did ,however, maintain several cuts from the scimitar and arrows that had come to close.

"They weren't to hard to beat." Katara said grimacing from her wounded leg.

"No, they were probably common criminals, unsuited for... wait where's the one with..." Zuko was cut short by a sudden scream from Katara ,she fell forward, a short stiletto blade sprouting from her side. Zuko just managed to catch her before she hit the ground, a red flower bloomed on her side.

Zuko was in shock. A cold feeling spread through his body. Ice cold, colder than steel, colder than Katara's skin in the the throws of her sickness. He felt something inside him die. Not Katara, please gods in the spirit world, not Katara. His world slowed down for a fraction of a second as he saw the flower grow on her side. That dark red flower of slow and painful death. The same flower he imagined Katara had seen on her mother's stomach. He lowered Katara to the ground gently and saw her eyes roll back in her head.

"Z-Zuko.." she breathed and her eyes closed her body went limp. He spun around, shock turning into hot burning anger, righteous fury ran through his blood as it boiled over. His entire being glowed with fire. He saw the man who had thrown the knife, now cowering at the might he had unleashed. Zuko staked over to the small man with yellow teeth. He grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him into the air.

"You." Zuko's tone was low with insane anger just barely held in check, "I want to rip you to shreds and break every bone in your body, I want you to burn in hell until the end of the world, I want to beat you until you cough up blood, I want to see demons feast on your flesh as you cry out in agony, I want to see you suffer for what you have done."

The man's eyes where consumed with fear, an ungodly primal fear that only comes out when you are sure your existence is about to be ended. He could see the hellfire burning his body in unquenchable flames. He could see the faces of the innocent women and children he had killed before leering at him as he burned. And it terrified him. He was consumed with fear. Fear of all that would come after the death he was sure to receive.

"But I will not." Zuko's tone was still that of righteous fury and power, "I will not because she would not wish it to be so. Leave and never hurt an innocent person again or I will hunt you down and carry out all those things I have said and some that you can not even imagine. If I ever see you again, you shall not live to see another dawn." Zuko set the little man down and he ran like the devil was on his tail. The man almost could swear he was.

When the man was out of sight the anger left Zuko and he ran to Katara.

"Gods please not her, please not her." he whispered aloud. The wound was bad but life had not left her yet. Her heart was still beating feebly at an uneven pace. 'I have to save her.' was his only thought, but how? He looked around praying something would help him. He saw a glint near Katara's neck. Zuko reached for it and found the vial of spirit water. He carefully removed it from around her neck and stared at it.

It was his last hope for a new face. His last hope to be the son his father wanted.

The thought barely registered something much more precious was at stake. Zuko held the vial carefully in one hand and turned to Katara. She had told him that healing herself was mostly automatic so he just had to pour the water into her wound and her life preserving powers would kick in. That's what he hoped anyway.

Zuko shifted Katara so the handle of the blade was front and center, that blade was the only thing stopping internal bleeding ,it was, in a way, keeping her alive. Zuko would need to pull it out and pour in the water, in nearly the same instant. He took a few steadying breaths and held the dagger hilt in one hand and the vial in the other. The cap of the vial was off and he was ready.

"Gods, god of the sun, goddess of the moon, please help me." he whispered in urgent prayer.

Zuko pulled out the knife. Right after the tip left the skin he poured the spirit water in the deep gash. He waited a few seconds and nothing happened. Then slowly he saw a blue glow emanating from Katara's side. The glow got bigger and bigger until it surrounded the entire wound. When the glow finally faded, the only thing left to prove Katara had been near death, was the red flower on her clothing.

Leaning over her Zuko could hear Katara take in a even breath.

"Thank you," he whispered, "Thank you gods! Thank you, thank you!" Zuko's voice cracked with relief. She was alive. Truly alive and here with him. Zuko picked her up and brought her into the cave away from the clearing and the bodies of the unconscious bandits. He laid her down on her sleeping bag but when he took his arm away he found fresh blood on his arm. Zuko saw that the her left pant leg was torn up. Lifting the fabric, Zuko saw a line of cuts wrapping around her leg going all the way up to mid thigh. The cuts wound up her leg in a coil and oozed blood slowly. Zuko didn't know what to do. He could just put her in the spring and have Katara heal herself but he didn't want her to use to much energy, she was already exhausted. Zuko decided to wrap her leg in the torn fabric of her pant leg to stop the bleeding. He took a knife and cut the fabric a little above Katara's knee. The cloth tore into strips easily and Zuko bandaged Katara as well as he could manage. She slept through everything, Zuko was glad, it would have been extremely awkward if she had woken up to Zuko cutting off her left pant leg.

Zuko went back to the clearing. He saw all the unconscious forms there and knew that he had to deal with them. One by one he dragged them to a different clearing far away from where he and Katara were dwelling. They would wake up eventually and ,he hoped, leave to go somewhere else. Zuko returned to the cave and knelt next to Katara. He reached out and caressed her cheek. She was alive. That's all he cared about in that moment.

She was alive.


	17. Love

Dawn

Chapter 17

Katara woke sleepily. She cracked open her eyes lazily and peered around. Was this the spirit world? Should she be this tired in the spirit word? It wasn't that she was tired exactly, she was more... weak, than tired. She saw Zuko then as he walked into her line of vision.

"Z-Zuko?" she tried to speak but her throat was dry and she made little sound. But even that much was enough to catch the firebender's attention. He spun around and his eyes widened.

"Katara!" There was a sort of joy and relief in his voice that she had never heard before. He knelt down close to her.

"Water..." she pleaded.

"Of course!" Zuko took his own water skin and held it to her lips. The refreshing liquid coursed down her throat, she could feel it run down into her stomach. It felt fantastic.

"Am I in the spirit world?" her voice was still a bit hoarse.

Zuko chuckled, "No, no Katara, you're very alive."

"How?" Zuko sobered.

"After the... the knife hit you. I attacked the man. I had him by the throat and I wanted to kill him."

"Zuko, tell me you didn't!" Katara clutched his arm, alarm was evident in her voice. She tried to push herself up on one arm but Zuko pushed her back down.

"Stay down you're still weak. No I didn't kill him, I wanted to though, I wanted to squeeze the life out of him and I told his so, and more besides." he felt Katara relax, her grip loosened and her tense shoulders relaxed. She closed her eyes.

"After I let him go I ran to you. You, you were dieing. I looked around wildly for anything that would help, I found your spirit water." Katara's eyes snapped open. She grasped his arm again.

"I used it on you." he turned his head away. He didn't know what Katara's reaction would be.

"Zuko..." her voice was faint, she reached up and turned his head back to her with gentile fingers, "you saved my life, again." her words were still hushed.

"What else could I have done?" Zuko's eyes flicked down and he blushed slightly.

"You could have taken the water and run. Found another healer." Katara stared with deep blue eyes at Zuko, her fingertips still touching his face. "You could have let me die."

Zuko's eyes met her's. They stared into each others eyes. In a whisper Zuko breathed out,

"No. I couldn't have."

Their heads moved closer slowly and they half closed their eyes.

Their lips met.

Zuko's arm wrapped around Katara holding her close. It felt like electricity was coursing down his body and a heat rose through his limbs. Time seemed to hang motionless. Zuko wanted to stay in this moment forever, just to slip out of time and languish in this paradise. This was so incredibly different than when that girl had kissed him in Ba Sing Se. this was so incredibly better. He felt her hand holding his face tenderly and her grip on his arm tighten. Was this what people meant when they talked of love? This was paradise.

Katara's heart pounded in her chest. She felt Zuko's arm pull her closer and she was thankful, she didn't know how much longer she could hold her own weight. A warm feeling raced through her body and she seemed to get dizzy. She held Zuko's face in one hand and clutched his arm with the other. She seemed to be melting. This was a wonderful feeling, a euphoric feeling.

To soon for both of them, they broke apart to allow the necessity of breathing.

"Zuko..." Katara whispered.

"Shh," he pressed a finger gently against her lips. He gently laid her back down on her sleeping bag, "you need rest and comfort. The night can provide one and I the other."

barely in a whisper, for sleep was already taking her weak body, Katara said,

"Thank you, Zuko." and drifted into the reaching blackness.

Zuko straitened up and leaned on the nearby rock wall.

"gods..." his lips curved in a dazed smile and he stared at the ceiling, "gods..." he reached up to his lips where he could still feel a slight ghost tingle where Katara's had met his. He couldn't think of what else to say, "gods..."

Katara dreamt of swimming in a turquoise pool. She splashed and dived and twirled in the water, loving the weightless feeling it gave her. The only thing that bothered her was how cold it was. She shivered and then felt warmth from one side if the pool. She swam toward that side. She peered between some bamboo to see Zuko with his hand in the water, making it hot. Katara swam closer. The water was steaming around her and it felt nice. Her water was almost never warm because it took to long to heat, the last time she had taken a hot bath was in Ba Sing Se. Katara was still hidden behind the bamboo but she really wanted to get closer. She didn't know how Zuko would react, but in the dream she didn't care, Katara swam closer to Zuko's radiator hand. Zuko just smiled and didn't seem surprised at all.

"I knew you'd come." was all he said.

Soon Katara dragged herself ashore and bent the water out of her swimming clothes. She shivered a bit and Zuko wrapped an arm around her. She immediately warmed. Then the dream slowly faded to blackness.

Katara opened her eyes lazily. Then she realized that her head wasn't on her pillow. It was on something about the length of her face and warm. She lifted her head and looked down to see a hand. Attached to that hand was a muscular arm, attached to that arm was an extremely bemused Zuko. There was silence for a moment and neither moved.

"Ummmmm, would you mind explaining so I know if I should be blushing right now?" Katara said still half asleep. Zuko chuckled.

"You really surprised me. You were sleeping and I saw you shivering so I grabbed a blanket and as I draped it over you, you grabbed my hand in your sleep. You held it and put it under your cheek and then you woke up." Katara was indeed blushing now. "Do you mind telling me what you were dreaming about?"

"Oh it was nothing. Don't worry about it." Katara rushed out.

"You know that just made me more curious, tell me."

"No."

"Yes."

Katara realized it was a lost cause and she was to weak to really resist.

"Fine. I dreamed I was swimming. I was cold when I suddenly felt the water warm up. I swam to the other side of the pool and saw you dipping your hand into the water, heating it. I swan awhile in the warm water and then sat next to you on the shore. Then you wrapped your arm around me and I woke up." Katara blurted the story out quickly, hoping Zuko wouldn't hear the last bit. Zuko heard the last bit.

"Katara..." he said slowly. Mischievously.

"Yes Zuko?" Katara also spoke slowly she was wary of his tone.

"Was this a good dream or a bad dream?"

"Well, I was happy and safe, and warm and content so I suspect that it was a good dream."

There was a pause. Then Katara stretched and started to try to stand up. Before Zuko could say anything, Katara gave a slight cry when she put weight on her left leg. She fell and Zuko barely had time to catch her.

"Katara! You shouldn't try to walk you're still weak from your massive healing and did you even notice your leg is torn up?"

Katara's face was drawn and turning slightly gray from the pain, "I notice now." her words were tight and slightly gasp-y as the line of small wounds started to bleed again. "Can you please carry me to the spring? I don't think I can walk."

"Of course Katara." Zuko picked her up bridal style to save her wounded leg from further jostling. Katara turned her head into Zuko's chest to hide the pain in her eyes. Her leg burned terribly and she prayed that infection had not yet set in. She couldn't even bear to look at her leg. When they finally reached the spring Zuko waded in a bit and placed Katara in the water. She sat in the shallows and a faint blue glow wrapped around her leg in a coil, hovering over each cut. When the glow died Katara undid the bindings on her calf.

"It looks much better. I'll need one more healing tonight with the moon."

"Why?" Zuko asked, "It looks fine to me."

"There was...poison on the whip's blades." Katara explained, "It was weak, and probably the man had just removed most of it before they attacked us. I figure he was cleaning it when the spotted us and didn't have time to reload." Katara looked up at Zuko's face, it was stormy and dark.

"Zuko, it's okay. I'm healed and at least it wasn't fully poisoned. I can...." her voice drifted off. Her entire world shifted. Zuko looked down when she stopped talking. "I-I can't keep my promise." Katara looked up at Zuko with tears in her eyes. "I am so sorry Zuko. I promised I would heal you and now I can't. If I had been more aware maybe, maybe..." the tears were falling now, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I'll try tonight if you want, I might not have the spirit water but maybe with the moon, even if it isn't full, I can try..."

"Shh." Zuko sat next to her in the water, he held on finger to her lips, "No."

"But, I thought..."

"Katara listen to me. Once this scar marked me as honor-less and homeless, banished from my country and my family. It brought me to you, and I thought I could be rid of it for the rest of my life. Then I sat with the decision of saving your life or saving my face and I realized this: that I rather have a thousand scars than let you die. This scar doesn't hold dishonor for me anymore, it lead me to you and that is the greatest thing it could have done. Besides you have healed me, not here, "Zuko took Katara's hand and held it to his face, " but here." Zuko held Katara's hand to his chest where she could feel his heart beating, after a minute he raised her hand to his lips and gently kissed the back of it, "And for that ,my lady, I shall thank you forever."

Zuko looked up into Katara's eyes and she slowly took his head in her hands and whispered,

"Somehow ,impossibly, we are here, and at this moment I don't really care how." then Zuko kissed her and pulled her close. Just as the sun was rising. It was the most beautiful dawn either of them had seen.


	18. Paradise

Dawn

Chapter 18 Paradise

Katara leaned into Zuko. She felt, more than saw the sunrise. She could feel the rays rest on her back. She felt so secure in Zuko's strong arms, she felt a safety she hadn't felt in a long time. Katara raised her head up to look into his golden eyes. Zuko started to say something but she just raised one finger to his lips, silencing him. Zuko placed a gossamer kiss on her fingertip. And as Katara's hand slipped off his face, he caught it and placed it over his heart. She felt the beating of his heart. She saw in his eyes and she felt in his heart beat what he was going to say... I love you.

After a moment he slowly stood and helped Katara to her feet, they were both wet from the waist down from the spring. Katara wordlessly bent them dry, her eyes not looking away from Zuko's.

"Let's go back to the cave."

When they got back, they went about the business of making a meal. They had eaten only sporadically during their time together and both realized they were ravenous. Katara started the rice and she saw Zuko laboriously looking over plants in his pack.

"Zuko... what are you doing?" Katara asked a slight thread of laughter in her voice.

"I'm trying to make tea." He mumbled out.

"Oh really?" Katara walked over to crouch next to Zuko and his array of dried plants.

"Yes my uncle would always make fantastic tea."

"What plants are you looking for specifically?"

"Jasmine, all I need is jasmine, it was his favorite."

Katara picked up a small plant, and sniffed it.

"This is it."

"How do you know?"

"You can smell the sweetness in the crushed leaves, make sure you crush them coarsely, grind them too fine and the jasmine is to weak."

"You like tea?"

"On occasion, when we were back at my village I delt more with medicines but some herbs such as jasmine do have healing purposes as well as taste good. Since I realized my healing abilities we haven't really relied on the old techniques, but a few things stay in my mind."

"What's jasmine used for in medicine?"

"I'm pretty sure it was used to help headaches and calm your mind."

"Hmm, I wonder if that's why uncle is always so optimistic. Even though his favorite is jin-sang he would drink jasmine too."

Katara dug out the last bit of food from her bag, she had only a piece of jerky and an orange left.

"I hope you have more food than I do because I'm almost out." Katara held out the food sac upside down to demonstrate.

"I have more food don't worry."

They sat down to eat when the rice was ready. They scooped it into bowls and Zuko passed her a roll from his pack. Katara split the jerky and gave it to Zuko. They ate in companionable silence for a little while.

"You said that you sing right?" Zuko's comment seemed to be out of the blue.

"Huh! Oh umm, a little, I guess." Katara stuttered out, surprised by the question.

"Sing me something." Zuko commanded.

"Oh I really don't think...I'm really not good." Katara stared into her bowl of rice.

"I bet you are good, come on you said you wanted someone to hear you sing. And I want to hear it."

"Um, well what should I sing?" Katara fiddled with her hair.

"Anything, sing about anything that makes you happy."

'Um, alright, Katara took a deep breath.

I know of a place,

where the heron and eagle race,

and the lion lies down with the lamb.

Where maidens dance and sing,

And the sunlight brings,

a golden tinge to the land.

I know of a place,

Where water flows,

And fire dances with the wind.

I pray to go back to this wondrous place

Where the stars in the heavens dance,

Where the oceans are sweet,

Where the sun and moon meet.

Where my thoughts often fly to.

I wish to go back,

to the place of my dreams

This place called paradise."

Katara leaned her head on Zuko's shoulder, she was blushing deeply. Zuko put aside his bowl and turned to look at Katara's head on his shoulder. He wrapped am arm around her shoulders and hugged her closer to him.

"That was beautiful." he murmured.

"Really?" Katara looked up at him with shining eyes. He looked into her eyes and kissed her gently on the mouth,

"Really." he confirmed. Katara buried her face into Zuko's neck, breathing in his sent. She felt him rest his cheek on the top of her head. Everything felt right. The way Zuko's arms encompassed her made her feel safe. She felt like she was floating. Was this love? It had to be, right? To feel as if to be in his arms was the best thing in the world. To feel like his touch was better nourishment than any food or drink. To feel like his kiss brought you to paradise. To

feel his love complete you in a way you never dreamed of. And the terrifying knowledge that you would not be able to live without the other. Is this what the son of the sun and the daughter of the moon felt? How could they bare to leave one another? Maybe that's what made them gods, the power to leave the other half of yourself for the good of the people. Is that what love is about? Sacrifice? Katara didn't care, for that moment she was happy.


	19. Interruption

Dawn

Chapter 19 Interruption

The rest of the morning went by rather uneventfully. Zuko went about practicing with his duel swords, which he had brought just in case, and Katara worked on perfecting her water person technique, which they had dubbed the marionette. The thing that troubled Katara about the marionette was that she wanted it to not only mimic her antics but have the ability to be controlled by slight motions of the fingers, so that it could move without Katara having to make to much movement herself. She figured this could be useful, not just for entertainment, but for fighting.

Katara and Zuko had just sat down to eat a quick lunch of bread and cheese when suddenly a small furry creature was sitting in front of Katara.

"Momo?" she said startled.

"What?" Zuko looked up from his meal, "What is that thing?"

"He's Momo ,a winged lemur, he's kind of a group pet... Oh no!"

"What? What's wrong?!" there was apprehension in Zuko's voice.

"They're close. If Momo is here that means they're close or one of them is about to walk in on us." Katara looked into Zuko's eyes, she had deep fear in her own, "They'll try to hurt you if they find you." There was silence for a few moments. "You have to hide, quick!" Katara sprang up and pulled Zuko with her.

"Get your belongings and anything that might show that anyone but me was here. Bring it all the the back of the cave, I wont let them come near it or go in. I have an idea on how to get them to leave. Go!"

Zuko was not at all pleased about hiding in the cave, he'd have rather been closer to Katara or even fight them, but they were her friends and there was common sense in her plan. Even if he didn't know all of it yet.

"What do you intend to do?" Zuko asked ,holding on to her wrist to make sure she answered him. Katara looked at him and there was a glint of excitement in her eyes.

"The marionette." she slipped her hand from is grasp and rushed to the spring and out of his sight.

"Wait! Katara!" he called but she didn't turn back. "What the hell do you mean?" he grumbled under his breath.

Katara was outside and forming a water replica of herself. She hoped she could pull this off.

She touched the forehead of the water replica and the marionette was complete. Now she had to wait.

Aang was walking around. It was right after noon and he was bored.

"I wish Katara was here." he mumbled. Sokka was asleep on Appa's back and Toph was, as she put it, "communing with the mud". Aang took that to mean she was off taking a mud bath somewhere. At that moment Momo darted out of the trees flew around Aang's head and darted back into the trees. Aang ,thinking this was a game, decided to go looking for the lemur. He made his way through the foliage slowly, hampered by the crutch he was using because of his injury. It still hurt and was getting worse without Katara's daily healing sessions. He stepped out into a clearing, and saw Katara.

"Katara!!!" he yelled running up to her. He was stopped by a menacing voice,

"Do not touch her, mortal!" Aang stopped short about five feet from Katara. He spun around and saw a copy of Katara, made with water.

"What is going on? What are you?" Aang was standing between two Kataras they both stood up and looked at him. Their mouths moved and the cold voice rang out.

"I am your friend's water spirit. I am what allows her to bend water and you have interrupted the sacred ritual! If my host is touched or moved even an inch, her body shall start to turn to dust. When bender and spirit are separated the physical body becomes weak. Katara, as you call her, has been a wonderful hostess, it would be a shame to have her destroyed by her friend's hand. Because then of course ,avatar or not, I would have the freedom to seek revenge." both Kataras licked their lips and chuckled slightly. "You must leave."

"Wait! Is Katara going to be alright?!?"

"Yes, mortal, she's fine! But you must leave for the cleansing to take place. I must be back in her body soon or she will be damaged. You must leave!" both Kataras pointed fingers back to the trees and glared down at him.

"If you are Katara's water spirit why is she moving?"

"We are still connected by a thread, I influence her actions. If she is influenced otherwise she will turn to dust." the voice was getting increasingly annoyed, "Now GO!!"

Aang grabbed up Momo and ran as fast as he could ,with his crutch it wasn't as fast as he would have liked, away.

Katara was sure that Aang was out of hearing range but was still cautious. What if he turned back for some reason? So, for safety's sake, Katara made the water figure melt into her body, in the process soaking herself, to make it seem like her spirit had returned. She then quickly bent the water off of her and searched the surrounding trees. There was no sign of Aang. Katara breathed a sign of relief. That could have been a lot worse. She rubbed her throat, it was uncomfortable to talk in that raspy low voice but it had been needed. She was extremely lucky she had not shown her friends the marionette move. Aang might have guessed it otherwise. Katara walked to the cave entrance and called out,

"Zuko? They're gone."

All she got in reply was silence.

"Zuko?" there was a slight tinge of worry in her voice and she walked into the cave a bit.

Silence.

"Zuko?!?" the worry was evident, she started to panic slightly. She could see all of his belongings but she couldn't find him.

"ZUKO!!" she yelled out. She was now in the very back of the cave and panicking. What if something had happened to him? What if he was hurt? What if he had... left her... of his own free will?

Suddenly hands grasped her waist and a low voice whispered,

"Boo!" in her ear. Katara spun around and found Zuko, eyes shining with mirth. She pushed her way out of his grasp and sat down with her back to him. She was shaking.

"Katara? What's wrong? What happened?" Zuko's joviality drained away when she wrenched herself from him.

"Don't...ever... do that... again." Katara's voice quivered and tears filled her eyes. Zuko sat next to her and put his arms around her.

"I-I thought you had been captured or injured or-or that you, you'd left me..." Zuko could feel Katara tremble in his arms.

"I'm sorry, love." Zuko rocked her back and forth gently, "I won't do that again. I promise. Please don't cry." he gently raised her chin so he could see her eyes, there was a tear running down her face.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, "I just got so scared."

"It's my fault." Zuko whispered. He gently kissed the tear from Katara's cheek and held her close. He rubbed her back a little and she slowly stopped shaking. It felt good to have him rub her back in such a comforting way. I calmed her, relaxed her. She rested her head against his shoulder and took in a long shuddering breath.

"How did you convince your friends to leave you alone?" Zuko asked.

"I used the marionette to make a form of myself. Then I controlled it and made it act like it was my water spirit and that we were in the middle of a soul cleansing or something. I think I scared him enough that he won't come back." Katara gave a small chuckle, "I made him think that if he touched me I would disintegrate into dust."

Zuko chuckled,

"I would have liked to see how you did that!"

"Maybe I'll show you, but later, I really want to go for a swim." Katara straitened up and Zuko followed her out to the spring.

____________________Author's Note__________

a huge thank you to everyone who commented!! I posted a one shot entitled "Challenge" it's Zutara and funny so if you're board look it up. =) One of my favorite lines from this story is Toph communing with the mud. I just think it's funny. It ranks up there with the twin gifts of idiocy and bad luck. I hope you enjoy and another big THANK YOU to all my readers!!!!


	20. Swim

Dawn

Chapter 20 Swim

Katara pulled Zuko into the water,

"Come on!" she said, laughter in her voice.

"Katara I don't really like water, or swimming." the hesitance was plain in Zuko's voice.

"At least come in long enough for me to heal all the wounds you got from yesterday's battle."

"Katara you're still weak, don't waste your energy on me."

"Zuko, I'm feeling fine and I can get energy from the water, and for your information if it's for you it's not wasteful. For all I know you could have infection, now come into the water right now."

Zuko decided to allow Katara to heal him. She had that tone that girls get when they want something and won't stop until they get it. He took off his shirt and waded into the spring.

"Come a little deeper." Katara coaxed. Zuko came so the water was up to his waist. Katara swam around so she was behind Zuko.

"Stand still so I can heal you." she said in a gentle yet authoritative voice. Zuko did as he was bidden. He could feel her hands on his shoulders and back. They were gentle and cool against his hot skin and the pain from his minor scratches faded as they roamed. Katara drifted around to his front where a long cut severed his chest, it was shallow but still painful. Katara gently placed her hand on his chest and the water surrounding it glowed slightly. The cut healed shut and the water fell but she didn't remove her hand. When Zuko looked at her, she pushed off the ground and laid a little peck on his cheek, before swimming away. He looked over at the beauty in the water. Zuko never wanted this time to end.

Zuko knew, in the back of his mind, that they couldn't go on like this. This was a perfect time but, eventually, it had to end. She had to go back to her friends, and he... he had to go back to his father. Because that's what he wanted, right? To be a fire prince again. To be his father's son. To be the heir. But now he wanted something else, Katara. He wanted her so bad. She could heal the darkness inside him. She could free him from the chains that he struggled against. She could complete him. What was he supposed to do? He was so torn. Five days. They had been together, only five days. And yet they had some kind of bond. Maybe it had started the moment he had seen her at the south pole. Maybe it had started during one of their numerous fights. Or maybe it had started in Ba Sing Se. Zuko didn't want to think about this anymore. He leaned forward and dipped his hand into the water and sent out a wave of heat, thinking about Katara's dream. He wondered if she really would like swimming in and bending heated water.

After only a few minutes of sending out waves of heat, Katara glided over to Zuko.

"Your doing this on purpose." she murmured. It wasn't really a question.

"Yep," Zuko said, "just for you, my love."

"It feels wonderful." Katara turned to float on her back. It was peaceful and silent. Zuko leaned back, "Tell me a story from the water tribe."

"Why?"

"Just curious."

"Alright," Katara said, slightly bemused, "Long ago when spirits still walked the earth, there was a young water tribe girl. She was young and beautiful and loved the ocean. She was always sad ,though, because she was not a waterbender. She wanted so badly to be connected to the water she loved so much. She would swim almost everyday and stare at the water. Eventually she caught the attention of the spirit of the ocean. He loved the devotion she showed to his domain and would watch her. Soon he became infatuated. He didn't want her to be restricted from his realm by the need to breath or the chill of the waters or the danger of the creatures that lived in the sea. The sea spirit wanted to marry the young girl. He revealed himself to her and she accepted his proposal of marriage. The spirit wanted to bring her down to his palace under the waves but, being human, she wouldn't be able to survive.

They finally decided that the sea spirit would come up from the sea twice every year to spend a night with his bride, for he could not leave his realm unguarded for any time longer than that. Soon the water tribe woman was with child. Her village was angry with her when she told them that she was married to the spirit of the ocean, they thought she was telling blasphemous lies. And her family was ashamed even more after discovering her pregnancy.

She had always been an outcast to the village no matter how beautiful she was, because of her love of the sea.

On the fateful eve of the baby's birth, the village was put to shame. For when the child was born, she had a shimmering purple-blue fish tail in the place of legs. The mother of the child was exuberant with happiness. She loved her daughter. The village however, was scared of this creature and knew that the woman was not lying about being married. Out of fear the village elders ordered that the baby be taken to her father to live in the sea with him. The woman was distraught by the thought of loosing her daughter but she knew that the village was showing mercy by not killing the babe on sight. The next time the sea spirit came, the woman tearfully handed over their daughter, whom she named Hai, which meant of the sea. The spirit of the ocean promised that he would bring their daughter every time he came back to the woman. And so the sea spirit left with his daughter.

The woman was very weak from the birth of her daughter and sadly died in the next few weeks. When the spirit of the ocean found out he was so grieved he would not allow fish to be caught in the villager's nets for the next year and the village suffered. Meanwhile Hai was growing at the rate of a god. She reached the age of seventeen in one year and then stopped aging because of her spirit blood. She visited the village that her mother had lived in and when the villagers saw her beauty they felt great remorse for the terrible way they had treated her mother. Seeing the sadness the famine of fish had brought, Hai begged her father to lift his curse, and he did. That's the story of the first mermaid. They say that because of her spirit blood Hai is still alive and comes out of the sea twice a year and sings to the village were her mother died. They say that her song is so beautiful and mesmerizing that it bewitches you into the sea. Some people even say they have found some purple-blue scales on the beach on the mornings after the solstices." Katara finished.

"Isn't it funny," Zuko speculated, "that in both our cultures we have stories about forbidden love?"

"No," Katara answered, "People like hearing about stories of lovers fighting for each other and people going through things to gain love. They like hearing about people staying strong in their love, some of the best stories are about forbidden love. Like the tale of Oma and Shu."

"hmm." was all he replied.

As they had been talking the sun had started to set. The vibrant hues of red and yellow and orange trumpeted a farewell to the golden sun, and the blush pinks, purples, and blues heralded the moon in with her star studded robes.

"So, is that the princess that turned into the moon?" Zuko asked looking to the sky.

"Yue," Katara said, "yes, she gave her life to save the balance of the world. And well, she sent me here to you."

"Then I have a lot to thank her for."

Katara ducked down in the water to hide her small blush.

* * *

At that moment in the spirit world there were a great many spirits and such divine beings gathered around a large looking glass. However, instead of their reflections looking back at them they were seeing the scene in the glen where Zuko and Katara were. A chorus of 'awwwwww's escaped the audience as they watched. Yue sitting in the prime spot, this was her palace and her little experiment after all, touched an ethereal hand over her heart and smiled with pride,

"See," she said, "they make a great couple. Just like I told you." all the spirits present murmured agreement.

"Hey Yue," chattered a monkey spirit, "would the spirit water have worked if Katara didn't trust Zuko?" Yue looked at him mischievously,

* * *

"Maybe... keep this in mind monkey... I am a zutarian."

Back in the physical world-

"Speaking of Yue I'll do that healing now." Katara's leg glowed a bright flash then faded.

"Why the brightness?" Zuko asked.

"Poisons are harder. They need to be flushed out of the system so the poison had to leave my leg through my pores, thus the greater energy." she pulled herself up and out of the water, leaving her toes to float. She huddled a little closer to Zuko. He was warm like the fire inside him. Katara bent the water out of her hair and bindings as not to soak her companion. She started to reach for her robes but Zuko wrapped his arm around her shoulders whispering in her ear, "Allow me." she gave a slight giggle and rested her head on his shoulder.

Zuko out his other hand out in front of himself and made a small flame appear. He manipulated it into a spinning ring around his hand. With another movement he made the ring split and jump up, a few more movements and the fire wove in and out of his fingers.

"Zuko," Katara questioned, "can you be burned by your own firebending?" Zuko mulled this over for a few moments.

"I think it has to do with will and amount. Fire is a fickle thing and it will consume you if you cannot control it. But as you can see now, the flame is small and my will to control it is great and so it doesn't burn me. But someone like Zhao, he wouldn't have the control. But even a great master cannot control a large amount of fire already released into the air. The best we can do is move it around ourselves and anyone else we need to protect. New benders when they first learn they can bend, sometimes get burns on their fingers from lack of control but they learn to tame the flames they carry."

"I always saw fire as being untouchable. Something like the spirits, I guess, always there but never felt, in the physical sense of the word. How strange to be able to feel the untouchable."

"What a strange way to think about firebending." Zuko mused.

"What did you think of waterbending as?" Katara questioned. Zuko thought for a moment,

"I used to think of it more like power over life. Living in the fire nation, it would get extremely hot, and water was intensely important, without it well... there would be no life. I especially learned that on my travels."

"That reminds me of when we were stranded in the desert, Sokka, Aang, Toph, and I. We were so lost and I felt almost powerless. I couldn't feel any water. It was like a part of me was missing." Katara shivered, "I felt powerless."

Zuko looked at her. He could understand feeling hopeless and he knew that what Katara needed was to get her mind off of those memories.

"Come on," he said, "let's go watch the stars."

_____________Author's Note__________________

WOOHOOO!!!! we're at chapter 20 already!!! 20!!!!!!!!!! I really can't believe I've gotten this far. Thank you all for your support it is truly amazing to hear from you guys! I will tell you, the next chappy will be amazing!!! Big things are gonna happen! So stay tuned!


	21. Time

Dawn

Chapter 21 Time

Katara leaned over and grabbed her robe as Zuko stood up. He reached a hand out to her and she took it, letting his strong arm haul her up from the ground. She shrugged on her robe, it was getting chilly without the sun there to warm her, but truly, Katara didn't mind, she had Zuko to keep her warm. They walked up to the ridge where Zuko had told her the story of the phoenix. They laid down on the soft grass and looked up into the clear sky. Stars started to be-speckle the darkness.

"My mother," Zuko said, "Used to tell me that stars are the handmaidens of the moon. That they entertain the her with their unique patterns and every so often one would dance for her and we see a shooting star."

"My mother," Katara answered, "said that stars were put there by the spirits to glorify great heroes of this world. The pictures and designs will depict their lives forever. When we see shooting stars, she said that the spirits are making a new picture for a new hero." there was a companionable silence.

"What...happened to your mother?" Katara said in a hesitant tone, "In the crystal catacombs you said that the war took her."

"It's not a good memory." Zuko said.

"Only tell me if you want to."

"I will tell you, you deserve to know." Zuko took a deep breath, "It was back when I was about seven years old. My mother was a wonderful woman. She was gentle and kind and cared for me and Azula immensely. Many times I've wondered if my mother ever loved Ozai, or if it was an arranged marriage. Regardless she showed the greatest love to me and my sister. We would play in the gardens and by the turtle-duck ponds. Then, one night, the family had gone to my grandfather's throne room, this was before Ozai took the throne. It was a few days after we found out that Uncle lost his son, Lu Ten, in the war. My uncle was so distraught that he stopped his siege of Ba Sing Se and turned home. After Azula and I had been told to leave, Azula pulled me behind a curtain so we could eavesdrop. My father asked my grandfather for the thrown right, saying that Iroh was too broken to be a good leader. My grandfather was furious saying that Ozai wouldn't know the pain of the death of a son until he experienced it himself. I ran out then, leaving Azula behind, I didn't want to hear anymore and I was terrified of being caught.

Later that night, Azula came into my room. She taunted me saying that father was going to kill me. I was scared, I knew even then that my father wanted the throne and he never saw me as anything but a disappointment. I tried telling myself that Azula always lies because she did and still does. Still I couldn't shake the feeling of something bad happening. My mother came in then and took Azula away, telling her not to lie in such terrible ways. I soon fell asleep. Then next thing I knew I was being shaken awake by my mother. She was trying to tell me something but I was so groggy I almost missed it. She said to me, "Zuko, know that everything I have done I have done for you. I love you ,my son. Never forget who you are. Goodbye." she hugged me then and walked away down the long hall. I was confused and I didn't understand. I lapsed into a half sleep. When I awoke a few hours later I realized that my mother might be gone forever. I ran through the palace looking for my father. I finally found him in a courtyard. I asked him where my mother was. All he did was bow his head. A few days later my grandfather died and my father was named Fire Lord. We never had a funeral for my mother, though, which leads me to believe that she is not dead. I suspect that my father was planning to kill me and my mother purposed a trade. She would disappear and I would live. Father would play a distraught widow but continue to be active in the war and politics, unlike my uncle. My mother banished herself for my sake." Zuko finished his tale.

He was sitting up now, looking at the ground, shoulders tense and hunched. Katara pushed herself up and took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Zuko..." she said, "we will find her."

"What do you mean?" he questioned a bit of hope flashing in his eyes.

"After this damned war is over we will search for your mother, and we will find her. Together."

"You promise?" the hope shined brighter in his eyes.

"I swear." Katara said, her voice was firm and sure.

Zuko's back straitened and his jaw was a firmer set. He had found a new drive. Zuko wrapped an arm around Katara's waist and pulled her to him. He pressed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss. Katara's hands fluttered in surprise then rested back on his face. They parted for breath, both gasping a little.

"Thank you ,Katara." Zuko didn't let go of her. He stared her in the eye.

"For what?" she murmured still a bit dazed by the kiss.

"For giving me hope, something I thought I had lost long ago. I don't know how to repay you."

Giving Zuko a look out of the corner of her eye Katara murmured,

"You could kiss me again." A smirk unfolded on Zuko's face.

"Would that please you, my lady?" he said in a mock-royal tone.

"Yes I think it would." Katara answered looking away and blushing. Zuko's smirk got wider.

"Perhaps my lady would like a kiss on the hand." Zuko took one of Katara's hands and laid a gentle kiss upon it. Katara giggled.

"Perhaps my lady would like some kisses on her arm." Zuko planted gossamer kisses up Katara's arm.

"Perhaps my lady would like a kiss on the neck." he leaned in and touched his lips to her neck, breathing in her sent.

"Perhaps my lady..." before Zuko finished talking Katara kissed him full on the mouth, sending him flying off his knees and onto his back. When they separated, Katara sat up and looked at Zuko, saying in a quiet voice,

"You take to long." she could hear Zuko chuckle. Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her down next to him. Zuko wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Katara rested her head on his chest and they fell asleep like that, holding each other, with the sound of Zuko's heart beat as Katara's lullaby.

Katara could feel warm arms around her and hear Zuko's heart beat. His warmth seeped into her body, making her feel lazy. She saw light through her barely cracked lids and knew it was morning. She huddled a bit closer to Zuko, not for warmth, just because she wanted to be with him. She felt him shift in his sleep slightly, his arm tightened around her waist. She peered up at Zuko's face and saw him looking down at her.

"Good morning." he whispered down at her.

"Good morning." she replied.

They were practicing bending after lunch. Katara was helping Zuko bend fire into shapes. She lay back on the grass after giving Zuko some pointers. Her thoughts wandered. Suddenly a thought struck her.

"Zuko," there was a slight hint of alarm in her voice, "How many days has it been?"

Zuko looked over at her and the flame in his palm went out. He knew what she meant.

"Six days." he said quietly, "Six days." there was silence as the implications of these words set in.

"Then, we...you...must..." Katara's voice was halting and broken, her eyes were wide with anxiety. Zuko pulled her into an embrace.

"I will have to go." he whispered into her hair. As he said those words, tears pricked Katara's eyes. "But not yet," he continued, "I will not leave yet. I will spend one more night with you. But I will have to leave at dawn tomorrow." he felt her arms tighten around his torso, as if she would never let go.

"Zuko," Katara said looking at him through her teary eyes, "Are you going back because you want to become the prince your father wanted? After you leave are... are you going to forget?" her voice was choked up and hard.

"No. I have to... I need to find out who I am. Who I am to my father, and to the Fire Nation. And I need to find out their plans, if nothing else. Then at least I can help you. Please try to understand." Zuko's eyes pleaded with her to think this through.

"I understand. I just don't want you to leave. I know that you have to and if I were to bring you back to camp now they would all think I had gone insane. I don't even know what Aang would do..." Zuko's eyes widened,

"The Avatar is...alive? I...I thought, after Azula... he's alive? How?" his voice was utter shock, Zuko held her at arms length to look her squarely in the eye.

"I used the spirit water on him, I was almost to late. Even so he is extremely weak and can't do much right now."

"How did you get more spirit water?" Zuko was utterly befuddled and Katara recounted the episode of Yue coming to her.

"So in a strange way, the moon set us up?" Zuko questioned. Katara giggled a little.

"Yes I guess so." she said in a small voice, "Let's just try to enjoy the little time we have left."

_Author's note_

again my customary thanks to all reviewers! we are getting closer to the end, but never fear this is but the end on book** 1**. there **shall **be a book **2**!


	22. Goodnight not Goodbye

Dawn

Chapter 22 – Goodnight not Goodbye

The evening drew into a close and stars started to shine, Katara was nestled in Zuko's arms and they were drifting into sleep. In the fogginess of her mind one thought came across that alarmed Katara.

"Zuko!" she sat up and twisted to look him in the eye, "You...you won't leave without saying goodbye tomorrow, right? You won't think some pigheaded thought about how it will be easier than a long goodbye? Right?"

Zuko, who had been awakened by Katara's movements, blinked at her sleepily,

"Don't worry," he said, "I'm to much of a coward to do that." Katara looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"I'm..." Zuko explained, " to afraid of leaving you." he drifted back asleep. A small smile crossed Katara's lips and she gently kissed Zuko's forehead. She curled herself up against him and drifted to sleep to the sound of Zuko's heartbeat.

The next morning, the dawn light was cold and gray. It seemed fitting for the event that was to happen today. Katara woke at the same moment that Zuko did. They didn't speak, they didn't move. They just lay there looking at each other.

Katara felt the sharp sting of tears coming.

_No, _she thought to herself, _I must be strong, for Zuko. _

She blinked her eyes and sat up. Zuko, too, sat up wordlessly. He started to gather his things. There was no food left so there was nothing for Katara to cook, and she couldn't bring herself to help Zuko leave, so she just sat there, helplessly. After some time Zuko was packed.

The camp looked bare and empty with the remains of the last fire they'd had and Katara's few possessions lying in a small pile that Zuko had taken enough care to collect. They stared at each other for a moment, then the next thing Katara knew she was up on her feet and running. She lept at Zuko wrapping her arms around him tight and burying her face into his chest, trying to fix his scent into her mind, boot leather and the oil they use to clean armor. Katara lifted her eyes to his face and started to run her hand over every detail of his features. His eyes, his lips, his chin, brow, hair, ears, and of course his scar. She kissed his scar over and over.

Zuko held her in his arms so tight he feared she would break in his grasp. He smelled her sweet scent of rose petals and sun-baked wild grass, and hoped he could remember it. Zuko ran his hands over her soft hair and gazed into her eyes as deep and blue as the ocean.

"Maybe I should stay... we could explain to your group..." Zuko's voice was full of indecision and longing.

"No." Katara firmly said, " You were right that we need information, we could win this war with your help. We have to stay strong, it won't be forever." she cupped his head in her hands, "Go. Get what we need. Then return to me." she kissed him as the tears pooled in her eyes again.

The kiss tasted of desperation and longing, sadness and love.

They broke apart.

"I swear I'll come back, I swear on my honor!" Zuko fiercely whispered into Katara's ear, squeezing her to him one last time. Then he turned and walked away through the trees.

Now Katara cried.

She wept silent tears of loss. The droplets turning to small coursing rivers down her cheeks. Katara never turned from where she stood, though. Always watching the spot where Zuko had disappeared. After what seemed like hours but was merely a few minutes Katara started to sing in a shaky voice,

My love, my love,

though you sail beyond the sea,

you forever will be,

with me.

My love, my love,

though time may pass by,

I shall always remember,

you by my side.

My love, my love,

return to me,

for you've taken my heart

you see.

My love, My love,

our love shan't ever fade,

it will shine like the fresh morning dew.

And the day you return,

is the day that I say,

I love you.

As Zuko walked he could hear Katara singing. When the first strains of the song reached his ears he had wanted to run back to her. He had wanted to run back and stop her singing with a kiss. But he knew that if he were to turn back, he would never be able to leave again. As Katara finished her song, a pain shot through Zuko's chest. He could still feel his heart beating, but he could have sworn it had broken.

Katara washed her face to rid it of her salty tears and prepared to go back to the main camp. She washed her surviving kimono and leggings and bathed herself in the small spring. She washed, brushed, and dried her hair and slipped on the clean clothing. The leggings still had small holes in them from the coals that had been blown her way. The coals that had started this entire affair. Her kimono too, had holes from the coals. If she were to wear her other kimono the others would freak out, what with the giant blood stain and the tear from the knife in it. Both it and the leggings she had had on when the whip struck her were destroyed. She packed up the torn and dirty material to save in case they needed it on the journey. Katara splashed some water on the remains of last night's fire to ensure it was out and slowly made her way back through the forest.

"And the nature-loving Prince Zuzu has returned." Azula's slithering voice fell upon Zuko's ears, "Go take a bath, you stink like a filthy peasant. Don't forget we leave to see Daddy tomorrow."

Yes the next day he would leave on the two week journey by ship to the fire nation to meet his father. Two weeks on a ship with Azula. The very thought sickened him. Zuko walked out of his room after his bath, and there waiting for him were Mai's emotionless black eyes. "Well aren't you going to escort me to dinner?"

Katara broke through the undergrowth into the large clearing where her group waited. The activity about the camp ceased at the moment she stood in the open. It seemed as if that moment was crystallized in early dawn light. Then Sokka let out a shout

"Katara's back!" all of a sudden she was attacked by hugs on all sides. Questions were flying toward her at every moment when suddenly Katara noticed.

"Where's Aang?" the mood dropped to sober as Sokka led her to a tent. Inside Aang lay on a pallet. His chest rose and fell with regular breaths. Katara dropped to his side.

"What happened?" her voice was panicked.

"A few days ago, I think two, he collapsed. He's been sleeping since, we haven't been able to wake him."

"This... this is all my fault."

"No, Katara..."

"Sokka, it's logic. Everyday I did a healing, then I had to leave for a week, he deteriorated. I...I abandoned him." tears threatened again.

"We'll leave you for a little bit." Toph grabbed Sokka's arm and pulled him out of the tent.

_'Gods! Was I right? Doing what I did? Aang's hurt now, Gods, I'm so stupid!' _

Katara rose from her place beside Aang and buried her head in her hands.

Then she felt a pair of arms wind themselves around her waist and hold her to a strong chest. She stiffened. The person was too tall to be Toph and the shoulders were to broad to be Sokka's. Katara spun around and looked up to see the coal black eyes of Jet.

"Hi, Katara."


	23. Book 2: Trust  Chapter 23  Separation

_Author's Note_

Alright I'm just gonna let you know right now, there is a LOT of time-jumping in this chapter. I mean flashbacks, flash-forwards, point of view changes, basically I need to cover a lot of time and feelings and instances. I will try to make this clear by using the dividers and description in the section, however I refuse to label each section 'Zuko's p.o.v' or 'three weeks later' etc. I find it chops the story apart and a bit tacky. So if you get confused just comment or message me, I'd be glad to explain. Also if it's been a while since you've seen the actual series then you may want to re-watch episode 1 of season 3, as most of this chapter goes along with that episode. In fact more than half of the dialog in this chapter is straight from the episode.

Now back to the story. Thanks ;)

Dawn

Book Two: Trust

Chapter 23 – Separation

Zuko stared back at the receding Earth Kingdom. Katara drew farther away as the minutes flew by. He felt the familiar churn of the Fire Nation boat underneath his feet. There was one perk to spending half of his life on a boat, Azula was retching in her cabin right now, while he felt fine. Casting off and docking always gave her fits of sickness. Of course she would be crueler than usual and he would have to deal with her. Zuko continued to stare out to the far away land that for a short while had been a paradise.

Katara was busier than ever before. Now there was one more mouth to feed and Sokka would keep passing worried glances at her. She would continue to tell him not to worry but he still did. And Aang, Aang was still unconscious. Her daily healings seemed to do nothing. She just prayed that it kept him stable.

Jet was another issue. She was overjoyed to see him of course, especially after Lake Lougi, but it was disconcerting how he had survived. And that he kept showing up around her.

"Katara?" there he was again, "Do you need help with anything?"

"Um, no not right now, thanks though."

"Oh, okay."

"Actually," Katara turned from the cooking, "you could explain how you're here. I mean when you got hurt, back at the lake. We were sure..." she didn't know how to finish the sentence. Jet sat down next to her.

"Well, I thought I was gonna die. I won't lie and say that I fought my way out, in fact, a bit after you left I blacked out. Smellerbee and Longshot said that they managed to smuggle me out easily as most of the guards went with Long Feng to fight you. They said that they got me to a second rate doctor who bandaged me up. The real saving grace was his wife who turned out to be a much better healer than him. Eventually I got back on my feet and worked for a time with the doctor to pay off my debt. After that I needed to get out of the city. I felt like there was too much bad blood. And I knew I couldn't just relax and live a normal life. I knew too much about the secrets the city held. After I left I heard about the fall of Ba Sing Se. So I started looking for you. I knew that your group had the one mission I could be passionate about. My strengths would do best here."

"I see. Well I'm glad you're alive Jet." she placed a hand on his shoulder, "I really am. And I'm grateful that you're here." she turned back to the food.

"Katara?" she turned slightly, " I also came for... for you. I wanted to see you again. I know that I made mistakes, and that you don't think you can trust me, but I want to try. I want to try to be better, for myself, and for you." Jet caught her hand in both of his.

Katara's heart was racing. She feared that this would happen the moment Jet had hugged her when she came back. She couldn't go back to him, not now. She had already promised herself to someone else. A someone else whom she couldn't name or describe for both his sake and hers. And Jet wasn't likely to give up without a fight, it was in his nature. But there he was, looking at her, expecting an answer. So she replied with the most neutral thing she could.

"Time will have to tell, Jet." She pulled her hand gently from his. She wasn't ready to be held by anyone other than Zuko or her family. It felt dirty and wrong. Jet didn't look upset, or even displeased. His eyes shown with determination that worried Katara, but it wasn't unexpected.

The ship churned beneath his feet as Zuko watched the gray waves. The sky was dark and the moon hung full and round. Mai walked behind him.

"Aren't you cold?"

"I've got a lot on my mind. It's been so long, over three years since I've been home. I wonder what's changed. I wonder how I've changed." Mai gave a yawn.

"I just asked if you were cold, I didn't ask for your whole life story." Mai hung an arm around his neck and pulled him to her. Zuko stiffened. Her touch was so different from Katara's. It was almost mechanical.

"Stop worrying." she tugged his chin down and met her lips with his. He didn't know how to react. He didn't want this, she had assumed that after three years of being gone he still felt something for her. She didn't know about Katara and he couldn't tell her. She didn't know that all he felt was friendliness toward her. Before he had time to push her away she retreated, and walked back inside the ship.

Zuko slid to his knees. He had messed up already. He had betrayed her again, not even a week after leaving. All because his mind was full of thoughts and worried and concerns, the least of which was Mai still feeling affection for him. He rested his head against the cold metal of the hull.

"Oh no." was all he could whisper.

In the healing session on the Fire Nation ship. When Aang finally remembered what happened in the catacombs. He asked her how she brought him back. Katara answered truthfully, the spirit water saved him. And of course she sent him to rest after the gruesome details of that night awoke in his mind.

After he had gone she crumbled a little. The thought of the spirit water brought back memories of _him_ and their time. And her heart ached for him to come back and the fear of not knowing what was happening to him tore her apart. A single tear fell before she pulled herself together.

It was time for the presentation. His presentation to the people. Where the public of the Fire Nation would revere him as a hero. Finally for the first time in three years he would be welcome back home.

Zuko heard the speech that was proclaimed before his debut, and hearing his cue, stepped out to be seen by the adoring public. He was in full armor and his hair had been painfully pulled into a top not. His scar was there for all to see.

As he stepped to the edge he saw legions of people cheering and praising him. This is what he always wanted. This is what he had craved for three years.

So why wasn't he happy?

Because the words being proclaimed were lies.

"The whole world thinks you're dead! Isn't that GREAT!" Sokka couldn't have been more blunt if he tried, but his point made sense. If no one though he was alive anymore then there would be no searching for the avatar. But Katara knew that Zuko knew. What was worse, seeing all the fire nation armor and insignias constantly reminded her that Zuko wasn't there. Every so often she would turn a corner and think that one of the men was him and her heart would pound and her palms would sweat, but then the man would turn or talk and the illusion was gone, and her heart went back to painful throbs.

Zuko sat by the turtle duck pond, remembering his mother. Wishing Katara could be there beside him. Knowing she would love it. Azula showed up and started talking. He didn't want to listen to her. Everything she said had to be a deception and he didn't want her in his head. She started going on about Mai and he knew that he had to change the subject.

"I haven't seen dad yet. I haven't seen him in three years. Since I was banished." this was a safer topic.

"So what?" she replied, the disgust thick on her tongue.

"So I didn't capture the avatar."

"Who cares? The avatar is dead. Unless you think he somehow miraculously survived?" her tone would have made snakes jealous. The image of Katara talking about Aang flipped into his mind. And then the scene in the catacombs.

"No. There is no way he could've survived."

Aboard the stolen Fire Nation ship, Aang hadn't come to terms with his position.

"Is there anything you need." Katara understood that Aang was angry and frustrated. She hated seeing him like this.

"I need to redeem myself. I need my honor back." when he spoke those words it pierced her in a way she knew he couldn't imagine. He sounded like Zuko. Maybe not the Zuko she'd fallen in love with, but a Zuko none the less. And the memories of him flooded her thoughts as she walked away.

To find out who he was to his father. That's what he told Katara. Zuko pulled the curtain back and saw his father for the first time in three years.

He was gone. Gone. GONE! Aang had left! How could he! How could he just leave her like that? Katara ran, praying that he was still on the ship, that one of the last things she could rely on was still there. But she knew he wasn't.

"Katara! What's wrong?"

"He's gone, Jet. Aang's gone!" and the tears came, and arms held her, and she pulled away and kept running.

The coolness of the floor startled Zuko as he knelt before his father. The area under the fire was always coldest even though one wouldn't imagine it.

"you have redeemed yourself, my son." Zuko looked into the eyes of his father, "Welcome home."

and yet there was no joy in Ozai's eyes.

"What's wrong Katara?" Hakoda's voice was full of fatherly concern.

"He left."

"what?"

"Aang. He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone. That it's all his responsibility."

"Maybe it's his way of being brave."

"It's NOT brave! It's selfish and stupid! We could be helping him and I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know how much we need him too! How could he just leave us behind!" Katara angrily rubbed at her tear-stained face.

"...You're talking about me too, aren't you?" Hakoda's eyes filled with remorse.

"How could you leave us dad? I mean I know we had gran-gran and she loved us but, but we were just s-so lost without you." the tears were flowing thick and fast now, and though her father knew she was talking about him as well as Aang, he couldn't have guessed that it included another. He couldn't have known that the 'him' was a royal firebender and that 'we' had partially become 'me'.

"I'm so sorry, Katara." the chief held his daughter.

"I understand why you left, I really do, and I know that you had to go. So why do I still feel this way! I'm so sad and angry and hurt."

"I love you more than anything. You and your brother are my entire world; I

thought about you every day I was gone. And every night, when I went to sleep, I would lie awake missing you so much it would ache." and Hakoda's grip tightened on his daughter. And Katara couldn't help wishing that those words were also coming from a firebender, her firebender.

"I am proud of you Prince Zuko." the sentence didn't touch him like it would when his uncle said it, "And I am proudest of all of your most legendary accomplishment: you slayed the avatar."

A cold shiver scratched down Zuko's back, what was Azula gaining from this?

"What did you hear?"

"Azula told me everything." as his father recounted how Azula, of all people, had raved about his strength and loyalty and how Zuko had taken down the avatar, Zuko gritted his teeth and listened to the lies Azula had spread just for him.

Jet gently knocked on Katara's door.

"Come in." he pushed into the room, balancing a tray of food on it.

"Will you eat something? Please?"

"I'm not hungry."

"You said that yesterday too. Please Katara, eat something."

"I don't want to."

"We know you're worried about Aang but we're all worried about you too. Please just something."

"But..."

"Katara, your father is worried, Sokka's worried, I'm worried! Please for our sake, just eat something."

"...Okay. Leave the tray, I'll eat in a little bit."

"Thank you." Jet took her hand and squeezed it. She looked away. He slowly retreated from the room.

He confronted his sister. And it all came clear. She knew, no, she suspected, that there was a way for the Avatar to survive. And she was clearing her name. And with the fond calling of "sleep well, Zuzu." she damned his mind to turmoil.

He had reconciled himself to being in hiding, of that she was glad. Katara knew that Aang had come to his senses and would come back. She knew she would see her father again on the day of the eclipse. Her only question left was when would she see her firebender? When would she see Zuko?


End file.
